If Life is Short, Should You Say Yes to More Things?

No. Yes. Maybe?

Jun 13, 2022

Hello! Greetings from Brooklyn. Still dreaming of my weekend in Boston. I didn't have plans or a purpose for going to Boston. The truth is, I didn’t have a reason except I'm a romantic fool for e a city I don’t quite know. So I spent 48-hours walking from the north end to the south end, getting cherry soda with a NYC friend, eating circles around the city of pizza and vegan and cannolis.

Dear reader: I spent $90 on cannolis to bring back to every single person I know in Brooklyn.

And without a plan or a map or a tour guide, I saw what I wanted to see. Anyway, I’m the kind of person who is always looking for things, but not this weekend. This weekend, I didn’t want to find much except another reason to come back to Boston, just because.

In this issue: The powerful combo of saying yes & valuing your time, odd jobs I learned about on TikTok, and lessons from love.

Why you’re getting this: I'm Jen Glantz and this is my Monday Pick-Me-Up newsletter. I've been sending it for over 8-years, every single Monday morning, to thousands of awesome humans, just like you. Thank you for letting this email live in in your inbox. It truly makes my heart explode with joy.

Let's Talk About: If Life is Short, Should You Say Yes to More Things?

How many more times can you say yes?

It takes me a lot to say no to things.

I'm the friend who says yes to things, even when I don't know if I want to do these things.

I'm the one who is always down for a 2-hour phone call, a weekend trip to a far away city, or even a workout class where I know I'll be so sore after.

It's not good to be like this. But I'm like this not because I have a giant fear of missing out, but because I understand the harsh reality of life.

“How many more times will I be able to say yes to this?”

How many more times will I have to hang with that friend before they move away or our friendship feels distant (like so many friendships eventually do)?

How many more days will I have to snuggle with Goofy for 15-mins in the morning?

How many more times will Adam and I have to dance around this tiny apartment to songs we hear on YouTube?

How many more week trips to Florida will I get to have to spend time with my parents?

The answer is, I don't know. Nobody knows.

But everybody knows this:

It's not a million more times. It might be a thousand or a hundred or….less.

Knowing that makes you understand the value of saying yes and the value of using your time.

The other day, my friend Molly shared this Twitter thread in her newsletter, Future Monster, and it opened so much up in my mind.

It made me realize that not only is saying yes important (sometimes) but being 100000% fully present inside of those yes moments is what matters just as much.

Read this & then let me know what you think.

& listen to this if you want a deep dive on this topic.

All my love,

Jen Glantz

❤️

Monday Pick-Me-Ups:

On Repeat: A good concert to watch to help you get in the zone and cross things off your to-do list this morning.

Press Play: Today's podcast covers my trip to Boston, saying yes to things in your life, and why I'm obsessed with something called seed cycling. Listen here.

Odd Jobs: I found these odd ones on TikTok & these are odd ways you can make super cash from monetizing your expertise.

Love: Just a bunch of love lessons I learned from being a hired bridesmaid for strangers over the years.

Little Things Making Me Super Happy:

A good way to help you drink more water

Doing some summer cleaning with this stuff that's viral on TikTok

Bringing this to the park with me all summer to chill

I might get this to upgrade my workout outfits

Cheers to watermelon season!

If I had a bigger apartment, I'd get this for my WFH problems

A cool thing to add to your computer monitor

🖤

The End