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When was the last time that you were given an opportunity that had you letting

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your hair down, throwing your hands in the air and saying, well, why the hell not?

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If it's been a little bit, well, then consider today's episode your rally cry, your support.

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Because my friend, this world is too big.

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Opportunities are too abundant. And me and you, we ain't getting any younger.

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So if we want an opportunity to live like we're supposed to live,

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then we need to be saying, why the hell not?

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My friend, this is the 347th episode of Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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I'm excited you're here, and I'm excited for us to dive into today's topic.

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Yo, are you ready to flip the script on life? Because those bad days,

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they're just doors to better days.

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And that's exactly what we do here at Grit, Grace, and Inspiration.

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Your host, Kevin Lowe, he's been flipping the script on his own life,

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turning over 20 years of being completely blind into straight-up inspiration,

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motivation, and encouragement just for you.

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So, kick back, relax, and let me introduce you to your host, Kevin Lowe.

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I don't know if you caught my interview with Nia McAnally in our previous episode.

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That would have been episode 346.

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But if you did, then you got to hear her amazing story. Now,

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if you didn't, let me paint a picture for you, because it's going to set the

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scene for today's topic.

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Nia, she was in her mid-50s and suddenly jobless, homeless.

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Literally, the only home she owned were the shoes on her feet.

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And if you want to be honest, talk about a horrible situation.

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Her future looked bleak. It looked discouraging to be at this point in her life

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and to have everything gone. But thankfully, Nia understood that she had more

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life in her. She had more life to live.

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And so what did she do? Well, maybe she didn't actually say these words,

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but just go with me for today's topic.

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Because I'm thinking that whether she said them out loud or not,

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she was thinking, why the hell not?

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Why would I not go ahead and start traveling the world? She would set off on

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a trip around the world, volunteering, making enough money just for housing and food.

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She was living the life because she said, why not?

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Now, I'm sharing that with you not to suggest that you should quick grab a backpack

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and take off around the world, although why not?

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But more so to get across this idea that amazing things can happen when we simply say, why not?

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And here's the whole meaning behind today's topic.

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We are all experts at coming up with reasons why we can't, why we shouldn't.

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Why we will never. We have so many of those, it is ridiculous.

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We say it all the time. No, I don't have enough money.

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No, I don't have enough time. I'm not qualified enough for that.

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I'm not smart enough. I'm not pretty enough, strong enough.

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We come up with every excuse under the sun as to why we can't do something.

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So what I'm suggesting is what if you flip the script?

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What if you instead say, why not take that Spanish class?

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Yeah, I might be older and learning something new might not be so easy, but why not?

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Why not take that vacation? Am I ever going to get this opportunity again?

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Probably not. So I might as well do it.

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Why not just go for it? It's been something I've been dreaming about for so

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long, and yet I keep coming up with reasons why I shouldn't.

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Today is your day, my friend, to say why the hell not to your dreams,

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to your goals, to those last minute invitations that you get.

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That on one shoulder, you have a voice telling you you shouldn't.

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No, that's irresponsible.

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You got bills to pay. You got things to do, responsibilities.

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But on the other shoulder, you have the other voice saying, what the heck?

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Go with it. How many times do you get to live? Once.

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This is your time to shine. And that is exactly what I'm encouraging today.

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Now, I guess it's important to note, I'm not suggesting doing anything reckless, crazy.

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No, I'm literally just talking about you giving yourself permission to live

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life the way that you want to live it.

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Referring back to the story of Nia McAnally, when she decided to take that opportunity

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to crew a sailboat, she was done traveling. She knew she just wanted to do one more trip.

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She said yes to that opportunity, to set sail on a sailboat with a stranger,

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to help him sail his boat from Florida to the Bahamas. And what happened then?

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She said yes, and it led to a lifetime of happiness.

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It led to her healing past traumas, finding love, and igniting a whole new passion of riding.

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She found love on the sea because she adopted this idea of saying, why not?

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If you think about it, every time you say, ha, why not? And throw your hands

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in the air, let your hair down.

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You are giving yourself an opportunity to open a new door.

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And behind that door, who knows? You never know what lies on the other side.

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If we are willing to just go for it.

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Now, I will admit, I get it. The unknown is scary. I understand completely.

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But you know what's worse than playing it safe?

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It's regret.

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The regret of the decisions that we didn't make. Regret of the things that we didn't say yes to.

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More times than not, my friend, you're going to regret the things that you didn't

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do than the things you did.

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You're going to regret not answering the phone and going out on that date.

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You're going to regret not taking a chance and starting that business.

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You, my friend, have to be willing to put life on the line because the payoff is so amazing.

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It's worth the risk for you to simply say, why not?

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I deserve it. I'm able to do this. I'm capable.

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So why not do it? And if we look back at Nia McAnally, she could have played it safe.

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Heck, when she was at that point in her life, divorced, homeless,

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jobless, She could have thrown it all away.

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She could have just gone back home and called it quits on her dreams.

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And yet, what did she do? She said yes.

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Yes to one last opportunity that led to years sailing with who would become her husband.

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And when it came time for them to get married, what happened?

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She didn't say yes just once. She said it three times because they got married

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in Antigua, back in her home country in Ireland. and in America.

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Yes, three weddings, three yeses.

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Three is better than one all day long. And she is proof of it.

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The biggest thing I want you to understand, my friend, is that life,

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it's not about following a script.

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Life is crazy as it is, and life, honestly, is going to do what it's going to

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do. But it's up to us to make the most of it.

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We all have the same amount of hours in every day. We have the same amount of days in a year.

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But what separates us is what we choose to do with that time.

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Do you choose to live it out loud? Do you choose to say, why not, a little bit more?

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Or do you continue to just think, no, no, no, I'll wait till tomorrow.

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I'll wait till next year. Well, friend, maybe right now is your opportunity

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to just go ahead and say yes.

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To say, why the hell not? I deserve it. I'm going to do it.

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That is what I want for you. That is what I want today's episode to instill

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in you, is this confidence, this bravery, this willingness to just say, why the hell not?

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My friend, if you could ever use somebody to talk to, maybe it's about deciding

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whether or not you should say yes, no, or why the hell not. Well, you reach out to me.

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Contact information is inside of today's show notes.

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You can book a free virtual coffee date with me, or you can also just send me

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a private voice message all right there in today's show notes as well as on the website.

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Gritgraceinspiration.com Until next time, this is another episode of Grit,

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Grace & Inspiration. I'm your host, Kevin Lowe.

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And just because, why not say it one last time? Why the hell do you want to say it?

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Music.