Be a Hell Yes to Life

Be a Hell(hel) Yes to Life

By Leo Babauta

So often, we reject the experience in front of us.

It’s usually out of habit, from not wanting this particular experience, not liking the discomfort or uncertainty … or really not liking the fact that we aren’t going to get what we want.

We reject the experience in front of us:

Not liking the way other people are acting (totally justified, they’re idiots(ˈidēət)!)
Getting mad(mad) at ourselves for messing up again (you dumbass(ˈdəmˌas), why are you always doing that??)
Shutting ourselves off to the uncertainty of whatever is going on, by distracting ourselves (ugh(o͝oKH,əKH,əg), I just can’t)
Complaining about other people, often just in our heads (I don’t know why they have to be that way!)
Shutting down, wanting to exit(ˈegzit,ˈeksit), when things get hard (I can’t take this anymore, why does she always have to complain??)
Avoiding the discomfort or fear of something difficult (umm, that’s too hard, I’m going to tackle(ˈtakəl) email!)

This rejection of our experience is why we so often get frustrated(ˈfrəˌstrādəd) with other people, down on ourselves, or avoid the hard things.

It’s why we have such a hard time with good habits: meditation, exercise, healthy food, writing, reading, flossing(fläs,flôs). They’re not easy, so we say no to them, even when we know we should say yes.

It’s why we turn to alcohol(-ˌhäl,ˈalkəˌhôl), smoking, drugs, junk food, TV, social media, other distractions — to numb(nəm) out, to say No to life.

What if instead … we were a Hell Yes to life?

…
https://zenhabits.net/hellya/