Something weird happened to me today. No, really.
I was having a perfectly ordinary day at work when I noticed this tweet:
@mpricemitchell i just reached out to you via your website contact form. please let me know if you receive my note! thanks!
— Kate Balch (@KateBalch2) September 11, 2012
Intrigued, I checked my email. I had a note asking me if I could do something online in about an hour. It was really short notice (especially considering I had never done it before), but I thought “why not?”. (Note to my work peeps: I made sure I was reasonably caught up with my work first.)
This is how I ended up being part of a panel on HuffPost Live earlier today. The subject was ‘changing your name after you get married’. I believe the producer found me via my post I wrote last year about why I hyphenated my name after I got married.
I’ve never done one of these segments before. It was done via a Google+ Hangout, which I had also never used before (they’re easy). Once I got the confirmation I was in, I hustled to a spare office with my laptop so I could set up and talk without interruption and my cubicle mates thinking I was crazier than normal, talking to myself about my choice of nomenclature.
Here is the link to the discussion.
 I chatted with the other panelists beforehand and they were lovely women. I hope the woman who couldn’t decide what to do about her name (she’s getting married in a month) comes to a decision that works for her and her husband.
I’m not so sure how I did as a first-time panelist with no experience or guidance. I am happy that my microphone worked. I didn’t say a lot – the joys of being an introvert.Too much listening.
I’m proud that I went for it though. If they had caught me on another day, I probably would have just said “No, I’m at work – can’t do it”, and spent the rest of the day wondering “what if I had done it?”
Saying yes can be just as powerful as saying no.
I need to say yes more often. Get out of my rut. Try something new. Have adventures. This feels like a good start.
Hi Melissa,
Great post and congratulations on being on the panel! I agree with you that saying yes can be just as powerful as saying no in the right circumstances. I also agree with you that sometimes saying yes can be harder than saying no. Your reflex was to say no because you were at work, but you’re right, you likely would have wondered “what if?” Good on you for saying yes. You’ve inspired me to say yes more! 😀
Thanks Sarah! Here’s hoping we can both get the hang of saying yes (and no) at the best times. (I still believe in the power of a good ‘no’ too!)
I’ve been needing to kick my own ass so this was a good way to start since it was totally random.
Thanks for your comment. 🙂