I was not raised to be a positive person. Yet, I find I can see the positive in every situation. I was not raised to be an optimist. Yet, I am truly optimistic in my outlook.

Last night, I was blessed and honored to serve a young woman who has been struggling to make sense of the current direction of her life. As we talked, I realized I was exactly the right person for her in this moment. No ego, just acknowledging that my life experience gave me what she needed to hear. There was no way to know this beforehand.

Later, a man shared with me his story of how he and his wife found exactly the right house for them by remaining open to the direction Spirit would send them. They didn’t know how perfect the house was until they began to talk with the seller and the series of coincidences in their conversation revealed the flow of the Divine in all their lives.

Both stories provide more evidence that when we say Yes, and especially Yes to Yes, Yes to positivity, Yes to Love, Yes to openness then we find ourselves precisely where we need to be, receiving precisely what we need, sharing precisely what needs to be shared with precisely who needs to receive it.

We can prepare for what may come, but we can’t really know what that will be. Preparing ourselves may require gaining skills or learning. Preparing ourselves may mean engaging in spiritual practices to tune and temper our hearts, minds, and souls. Preparing ourselves may include learning to wait, learning to listen, learning to become still. We most likely won’t know what we’re preparing for, but if our intention is to serve both the Source of All and humanity, when the moment of service arrives we will be ready.

My life path taught me hard lessons. As I look back, I see that I was given numerous opportunities to say Yes to the Divine Will. This comes easily for some, not so easily for most of us. While my heart knew to say Yes, my head kept trying to make sense of it all. I couldn’t. I had to let go completely of all my notions of who I am and who I should be and how I should be in the world. For me, this took long years of depression and finally, death.

I learned that some who underwent the same procedure that stopped my heart wound up fully dead. My resuscitation caused second-degree burns on my chest from the ever-stronger current. During the long minutes without a heartbeat, I encountered the three spirit guides that have accompanied me my whole life. Their message was clear, “you are not complete, you will return.” In light of that, a few blisters were as nothing. I was initially disappointed to find myself on the table in the cold medical lab, but as I returned to living, “normal life,” I found the little things really didn’t matter any longer. I was sent back for a purpose, even if I didn’t know what that purpose was.

Teaching opened to me. As the months turned to years, I gained skills and experience that joined with a  previously unknown passion. After a few years, at the moment I had achieved a title, responsibility, and leadership of a project dear to me, it ended with a reduction in force that included my position.

It was the moment to walk the talk. I said Yes to Yes.

Financial needs were met. My marriage was stressed and strengthened as we sought to remain in the flow of Spirit. The truth of friendships was revealed. Family relationships grew stronger. New opportunities provided new skills and experience. A new role of service became part of who I am and how I fit into the world. Yes.

There is no need to say No as, in truth, there is no No. Love says yes, even if it says yes, but later or yes, but in this way. Our challenge is to remain in that place of openness that allows Spirit to flow through us to heal, to comfort, to challenge, to teach, to serve the world in ways beyond our imagining.

How can we not be positive, how can we not be optimistic, how can we not have joy when we are doing exactly what we should be doing in the way we should be doing it? It really is as simple as saying Yes.