How YES Changes Everything

Ever see the movie, “Yes Man?”  If you haven’t seen the movie, the basic premise is that the main character challenges himself to say yes to everything for an entire year. Through his new-found power of using one simple word – yes – we witness how his life dramatically changes for the better.

One day, prior to our arrival in Split, Harry and I made an agreement with one another. We decided that, no matter what, we were now going to be “Yes Man/Woman” during our second visit to Croatia. To be honest, I’m not even sure how the conversation even got started. (Being on the road for so long, with only each other to talk to, we often get into some crazy conversations!) Now we wonder, why did we wait so long to make the “YES Man” leap?

Why We Are Now Proud “Yes Man/Woman”

Proud YES Man/Woman at the Mosor Observatory after dinner party!

Those following our story will know that we have developed a strong friendship with Ivana and Davor, who we lovingly deemed “Our Croatian Cousins.” These two are always, ALWAYS, on the go. For example, Ivana told us that last weekend she was working off 5 hours of sleep…for the entire weekend! Meanwhile, our friend Davor likes spend his mornings climbing and biking up mountains. Before work! Where these two get their energy, we haven’t got a clue. But their “always on-the-go” lifestyle is completely infectious.

During our last visit, our Croatian cousins would randomly show up at our door asking us to do fun things like late-night dancing or head out for an evening multi-mile walk. Most times we agreed, but there were a few times we refused. And for some reason, looking back, that really bothered us. This time we weren’t going to pussy out. This visit was going to be different.

So upon our arrival this April, we promised our Croatian Cousins, “No matter what you ask us to do, we’re always going to say YES!” Looking somewhat skeptical, I’m not sure they believed us at the time. However, we are happy to report that so far we have kept our word and haven’t regretted it since.

Loving Those ‘How Did We End Up Here?’ Moments

Another beautiful night in Croatia for viewing the stars.

Last night was a perfect illustration of the joys that occur when adopting the “Yes Man” philosophy. We were on our way back home from a sunset cappuccino and long walk on the beach and it was nearly dinner time. We opted to take a short cut home. As we approached our apartment, Davor and Ivana pulled up next to us in their car suggesting, “We are heading to Mosor Mountain to go look at stars. If you want to come, then sit down.” (Yes, this was what he said.) Of course, we couldn’t say no and quickly hopped in.

We headed towards the Mosor Mountain Star Village Observatory where we found ourselves among all the astronomy enthusiasts from the area. We sat and listened to Korado Korlević, a famous Croatian astronomer who ranks among the world’s top 20 discoverers of minor planets. In theory, attending his lecture was quite funny considering we currently know and understand about 10 words of the Croatian language. We laughed as we kept searching for the subtitles, which were obviously never going to appear.

Before we knew it, we were invited up to the telescope and the observation deck to view Jupiter and it’s four moons with the scientists. How often do you get the opportunity to look into space with famous astronomers? Never!

My turn to stare deep into outer space!

As we were preparing to leave, Ivana and Davor’s friend had unexpectedly brought us behind the scenes into the after party. (He’s a local news reporter and was covering the event.) We were introduced as “Amerikanci”and the host warmly invited us to join them all for dinner. We laughed, ate, discussed Croatian culture, and tried to learn some typical phrases to use with our new friends. Fueled by the generously offered local beer and wine, it ended up being a very fun and memorable night.

Note: We were on the less scientific side of the table. The  scientists sat on the other side. At one point, an older man was giving our side of the table bad looks because he couldn’t hear what Korado Korlević was saying! YES! It’s in English!

We could have easily declined the invite and stayed home for dinner. In fact, we were actually quite hungry and a little disheveled from our walk. But we sucked it up, immediately agreed to the spontaneity of it all, and happily went with the flow.

Being a YES man can take you out of your comfort zone. You may not know what’s coming next, who you’ll meet, or where you’ll end up. But adopting the philosophy has already granted us some amazing experiences. To us, living life in a routine, predictable pattern really isn’t living at all. It’s merely existing. There’s a reason that adventurers proclaim that life begins at the end of your comfort zone. It’s because it usually does.

All we know is that life is too damn short to always say “no.” We were “YES MEN” last night and it has already opened the door to new opportunities that we otherwise may not have had the chance to experience. Proof in point? Guess who just got invited to the Astro Club beach party Saturday night?

The famous astronomer, Korado Korlević, who I made blush!