The Summer of Yes

by Courtney Walsh

Nothing comes without a cost, young lady, and only you can decide if you’re willing to pay it.”

“The universe sends disruptors along when we’ve gotten into a pattern that’s too comfortable,”

“Because times change. People change. ‘Life moves pretty fast. And if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’”

It’s not work that’s kept me from living my life. It’s fear. Work was just my excuse.

“Listen,” she says. “I think you have to find the things that fulfill you. Energize you. No matter what life you make for yourself, find some margin for those kinds of things.”

“You’ll never be happy if you listen to what everyone else says about you, Kelsey. It’s what you say about you that matters.”

“It’s a wild and precious life, Kelsey. If you have something that sets your soul on fire, you have a responsibility to chase that thing.”

Saying yes to simple pleasures might be even more important to me than saying yes to big things. After all, it’s the little moments that make a life.

Don’t wait to love the people you love. We aren’t guaranteed a second chance—we’re only lucky enough to seize one when it comes.”

“The other thing I’ve learned, and I want you all to listen closely,” she continues, “is that life . . . is good. And wonderful. And horrible, and beautiful, and messy, and everything all at once. And that is the beauty of it. It’s overwhelming, but it’s never boring. And it should be lived to the fullest. “And no, that doesn’t mean the biggest car or the best condo. It doesn’t mean a house in the Hamptons or a promotion at work. It means filling your life with the people you love, doing the things that make you feel the most alive.”