Say “Yes”... to the Night Light and NEW THINGS

When you have a newborn, and you have to wake up with him throughout the night, how do you find the perfect amount of light? 

With my first baby, we lived in a studio so I would sometimes feed her in the bathroom so the light wouldn't wake my husband up. With my second, I left the bathroom and tried  “fairy lights” that my mom had given me. These had a nice glow, but had 8 settings to go through while turning them off and on (why so many settings?). 

Looking back now I ask myself, why didn’t I find a solution to this problem? The answer: I had trained myself over the years to say, “no” to things, especially things that aren’t an absolute necessity. So with this third baby I tried something different. I said “yes!” to an actual night light. The night light I got was great and already solved a lot of my problems, but it was still a little too bright. 

One day, my curious and creative 3 year old son put the newborn beanie I had made on this new night light. The beanie definitely didn’t “belong” on the light and I easily could have taken it off, but instead of getting irritated like I usually do, I just left it. When I turned it on that night, the light showed through the kou design so beautifully and it dampened the brightness just the right amount making the perfect night light.

This experience was a pleasant surprise and sparked an epiphany for me. I realized that saying “yes” and being open to new things has blessed my life and also - that I spend too much time complaining about problems instead of finding solutions.

I can’t believe it took a $20 night light and my 3 year old to show me that there is no problem too small to find a (sometimes creative) solution.

• Are you struggling to learn Hawaiian? Spend 10 minutes on our resource page each day working on one aspect of the language.
• Don’t like your curtains? Buy some fabric and make some new ones. (You can totally do it!)
• Need a break? Ask for one. If you’re not sure how to do that, I totally don’t blame you, it can be hard to do at first. You might want to check out this blog post I wrote about making time for self care, and asking for help is a big part of it.

I believe that you have the strength and capacity to find the solution to any of your problems, no matter how big or small. Be open to saying “yes” to new ideas whether they are your own or someone else’s. 

I hope you all find something new to say “yes” to this week. Are you willing to stay open to new ideas? Are you willing to say “yes” to something that could bless your life? 

I think you’re ready to be pleasantly surprised.