“No” it’s OK to say it!

We’ve all heard two year olds with their imperical one word sentences dictate, “NO!”  or “Mine!”  just to name a few.  Somehow, we get the idea that saying “No” is bad.  We are saddled with guilt for giving a pass to working in the nursery or being on that committee.  We program ourselves into saying “Yes” so we don’t hurt people’s feelings.  Did you ever stop to think that by saying “Yes” to one thing you are actually saying “No” to something else?

It is true.  If it is important for you to have some “me” time and you say “Yes” to a committee meeting, Poof, your me time is now out the window.  If you rely on your “me” time for your sanity, how are you further ahead?  God gives us free will and allows us to make choices.  Many of those choices are internal, they only affect ourselves (so we think).  If you will run each “choice” through this filter, the scales will begin to fall from your eyes, allowing you to see the consequences of those choices. 

Ask yourself “If I say yes to this request, what am I saying no to?”  Once I realized how easily I edited time I really needed for my self, my health and my sanity, I was able to give myself permission to say “No.”  It has been liberating.  Of course you are not delivering your answer with the ferver of a two year old, but the feeling of  triumph is probably about the same.  Thank you God, for teaching me this valuable lesson and helping me to bring more balance to my life.