The Small Yeses

Hi there!

March, the third month in 2023 is almost ending, even though it seems like just yesterday that it was the first day of January.

I hope you have been well, and coping despite the tragi-comedy that Nigeria is proving to be.

Today, we are going to talk about the little things. Like the title said – the small yeses.

We’re humans, and like most people do we have goals and standards we have set for ourselves. We expect things from life, from our jobs and performances, but sometimes we can’t meet these goals. We beat ourselves up when our expectations fall short and life doesn’t go the way we want.

Today, I’m here to remind you that the little things matter too. The big stuff doesn’t come through? Fine, get up and try again. But while you’re trying to get your energy up, you should appreciate the little yeses too.

What are these little yeses?

They are the seemingly unimportant good things that happen to us. The little validation we get from everyday activities that are actually signs that point to a greater thing coming.

I’m a student of veterinary medicine, and a freelance writer, and I crochet when I feel like and when I have commissions.

I want to have distinctions in all my courses, and win scholarships and be one of the best graduating students or something. Those are the big yeses at this stage of my education, but if they don’t happen I won’t kill myself. I was able to answer questions in class. A friend needed me to explain something to them and I could. I understood the topic we were taught today, those are small yeses. Those are things that can spark joy inside me when I think about them.

So, I crochet. I want to be recognized for my work and create life-changing projects. I want to get a new phone with a better camera to take better pictures of my work. I want to blow up on social media and have so many orders I start declining some. Those are huge yeses for my crochet business.

As a freelancer, I want to get the huge paying jobs I apply to and earn way more than I do right now. I want to finish writing my novel and write many more short stories. I want to publish one or more of my stories in a magazine, and write articles that stay relevant for a long time. These are the huge yeses for my writing career.

I want to somehow be able to combine all of this with studying hard at school and having a social life, successfully.

It’s a pipe dream, I know.

Now, what would the small yeses be for my jobs?

Before we go to that, I think the small yeses keep hope alive. They motivate you. They make you feel like you’re making progress. If like me you suffer from imposter syndrome and you regularly slip into depressive modes, the little yeses are like your lifeline.

When I get the small yeses, they help me to keep pushing.

The small yeses are the compliments from people who read my work. I love writing for people and them feeling like what I wrote spoke to them. The less-paying writing jobs, people asking me to write feel good articles for them. The emails I send to the people I love on their birthdays, and how happy it makes them. Those are some small yeses.

I love the comments on my Instagram and Tiktok pages from strangers when I post new designs I crochet. How beautiful I feel when I wear stuff I created. I love the compliments I get from complete strangers when I wear my creations out, and that feeling of being able to give life to something.

Creating makes me happy, it makes me love myself more. And that is a very important yes.

Might even count as a big yes, who knows?

These are the small yeses that keep my hope alive on nights when the fire is burning low and I’m crying out of sheer exhaustion. These little things, they remind me of just how hard I’m working to create the life I want for myself, and they help me to keep pushing towards the big wins.

So when the big wins come, it won’t feel like it just happened out of nowhere. I’d be able to look back and remember just how the little things merged to become the big ones.

So, until the next time I write you, I hope you remember appreciate the little things too. I hope you let them hold you up and motivate you when it feels like you can’t go on anymore.

Love, Me. 🥂❤️