I Have a Theory

My calc 3 final is pressing...pressing down on me.  The weight of how much stuff I still don't know is almost too much to bear, so I must be brief here!

I have this theory.  My disclaimer: this isn't 100% guaranteed, because uh nothing is.

HOWEVER, I am continually wowed by applying this in life because with the right amount of confidence, smiles, and gusto...it just might work for ya, and by just might, I mean probably will.

Okay, enough with the buildup.  I'm gonna lay it out for you--Go For It!  Tadaa!! That's it.  If you want something, something big, something small, whatever it is, sometimes it's literally as simple as just asking for it.

Yep, my recipe for success in life includes one ball, two balls, wam bam you made it!

You want examples? Oh, I have examples.  Where to being, where to begin...aha!

Just the other day, I had something to fax.  I was in an academic building, with the closest official fax machine located multiple blocks away at the ups store.  It was hot, I was busy, and I quite frankly didn't feel like paying two bucks a page to fax something when, with the right attitude, I might just find a better option.

I walked to a tutoring office across the street (saving myself distance, and thus time) and, with a smile and a slight twinge of desperation, kindly asked the lady at the front desk if she might help a student in a pinch.  Her first response? NO.

So I thanked her anyway and started to ask where she would suggest I might go to fax my papers.  No sooner did I say this than she asked me for the fax number, took the papers from me, and faxed them, bada bing bada boom, no sweat.

I thanked her multiple times, and earnestly told her that I really appreciated the favor (which I did) and went about my day, wallet still stacked to the brim (okay, really I had like $8, but that's $4 more than I would have had!).

This is a perfect illustration of what I am talking about.  Did the lady mind taking two seconds to do me a favor? Not a bit.  It just took her a minute to realize the triviality of what I was asking her to do and agree.

You can duplicate this result!

Fax machines not a big concern for you?  Okay, fine.  I'll pull out a doozie.

I am an artist (from time to time) and joined an art club back home where I'm from (Greensburg, Pa).  It ended up being different from what I expected--I was by far the youngest member.  As a matter of fact, I felt like I acquired a lifetime supply of friendly grandparents by joining, artsy ones, at that.

But I stuck around and got to know the president of the club and her husband, and they turned out to be really kind people.

One day I thought to myself--"Wow. It would be really sweet if I could have my very own art show...just my work...solo exhibit...yeah! I'll fill this place with all my art! And invite a bunch of people! And maybe get famous...!"

Okay, that's enough of my thoughts for you.  Anyhow, the moral of that tailspin was that I wanted to have a solo exhibit.

Mind you, I had never done anything of the sort in the past, and I later found out that I knew little to nothing about what it takes to put together an exhibit (which is, by the way, a lot of work and money).

Despite that fact that I didn't really know how it would work, or even IF it would work, if I'd even have a slim chance at convincing this group of serious, professional artists to hand over their space to me, a naive high school senior (at the time) to hang my, I'm sure to them, quite novice artwork.

But though I knew there was a possibility they would laugh in my face when I asked...I asked.

And they didn't laugh.  They were definitely taken very offguard.  They didn't really know what to say.  But they told me they'd consider it, and that sounded great to me!

I think you can probably smell the conclusion of this one...they agreed to the show, and a few months later, I stood in the art club, surrounded by my work and only my work, with people filing through the door to attend the opening of my first-ever solo exhibit.

It was incredible that they said yes, but I will never ever forget the way they said yes.

The president wrote me a letter that said..."after considering your idea, we cannot see why not."

WE CANNOT SEE WHY NOT.

Give asking for what you want a try, and you will not get this response everytime.  But I can almost guarantee that if you go at it with the right attitude, you will get this answer WAY more often than you would ever think.