What Happens When You Say "Yes" to Your Neighbor?
What happens when you say "Yes" to your Neighbor? Well, you may find yourself on top of a parking garage, riding a bicycle from the 1930's with a group of strangers at 9:30pm.
Two weeks ago I met a neighbor for the first time who lives down the road from our office. He asked me to come by his place sometime so he could tell me about a book he wanted me to read.
I could not think of a reason why not, so I said, "yes."
I stopped by his house the next day. After we talked about the book and his passion for our neighborhood, he asked me if I wanted to see his garage and bicycle collection. I said "yes! I love bicycles!" He showed me his large collection of antique bicycles and shared stories about how he fixed them up. "Do you want to ride one of them?" he asked. "Heck YES!" I replied. He responded with, "Come to my house on Thursday evening and we will go for a ride."
I did not have anything else going on that Thursday night, so I said "yes."
We went for a ride that Thursday night on his antique bikes. We stopped at a corner and he asked, "Do you like fish?" "Well yeah, of course I like fish," I replied. "Well, we are going to go have the best fish here in Wichita. I bet you never thought you would have good fish out here!" He was right, it was some darn good fish.
Afterwards, we road down a bit further and ran into his friends who were also on some antique bikes. "Want to hit a parking garage?" he asked. I had no idea what he meant in that moment, but I smiled to myself. I knew I would say "yes," because "yes" had led me to new friends, a delicious fish dinner, a fun bicycle ride, and a new neighbor. So, next thing I knew we were riding up parking garages and enjoying the evening view of Wichita.
When we say "yes" to our neighbors, we can find ourselves in unexpected places. When we says "yes" to our neighbors, we can find ourselves having unexpected experiences. When we say "yes to our neighbors, we open ourselves to unexpected friendships.
So, try saying "yes," and see where it leads you. It may take you to a place of undiscovered joy.