What You Say Is So

There’s a story about two baseball umpires talking about a more seasoned umpire. One of the umpires says to the other, “Old Bill is a master. There are balls and there are strikes, and he calls them like they are.” The other umpire responds, “Yes, Bill is a master umpire…there’s balls and there are strikes, and he calls them like he sees them.” In that moment, Bill walks up to them and says, “You are both wrong. There are balls and there are strikes, but they ain’t nothing until I call them.” The umpire speaks something into being, creating it to be what it is.

Just like the umpire, we have the authority to make declarations that direct how our world takes shape. Over the course of your life, you’ve made pivotal life decisions, both big and small. You’ve said yes to many things: perhaps a job, a relationship, becoming a parent. You’ve said yes to rolling out your yoga mat and practicing. Consider what it would look like if you had said no in any of those times when you said yes. How phenomenally different would your life be today? Can you see how your speaking yes or no determined the direction of your actions, creating possibilities and results? Can you see how saying yes or no, moment to moment on the mat, has impacted the results you have in your body and mind right now? Saying yes or no is a powerful act of closing one range of possibilities and opening an alternate range of others. Just through those two simple words, you enter some situations and move away from others.