This
phrase basically calls to task what one sees as false bravado, claims and
tales. The complete saying is, “we don’t believe you, you need more people”.
#Jay-Z…as taken from one of his songs. From there it has sprung a life of its
own, as most negative sayings tend to do. I have an affinity for it because of
the first time I heard it. One guy claimed he would do bodily harm to another,
and the response was, YNMP!
Another
favorite use is for those people who tell tall tales that could have only
happened in Vegas. Guess what? YNMP!
In learning and wanting to get away from a negative mindset, I now find that it is time to reframe “you need more people” to a positive saying. I think back to my high school, teenage years when we really had more people. On any given day, no less than nine of us met up to do the simplest thing, such as going to the local bodega for chips, the arcades, and definitely any party one of us received an invite.
There
was one kid in the group who, at times, would return from a function or any
locale with a fantastical version of something you might have experienced with
him. Since we did not have YNMP as a saying, we rarely called him on his
exaggerations, nor did we ever really support his claim. We never really
understood why and what he could have been experiencing. He truly needed more
people!
He was
not a liar or a dreamer, in the negative sense of the word. His mind saw beyond
the surface of things and he needed us, his people, to help him get to that
next level where we could have been having Vegas-style fun. Do you know anyone
like that? Who when you ask them to go fishing, she wants to buy a yacht? Well,
your friend needs more people! If you are a friend, then help her build that team,
that club, that coalition to make these big ideas a reality.
This
month, I bring you two friends who are part of so many people’s teams. I have
never heard their name mentioned and the person did not offer how great a
friend each was.
