No is such a little word, just two letters. It's not hard to pronounce, but it is so hard to say. If we say no, will people think that we are bad people? If we say no, will we feel guilty? If we say no to our children, will people think that we are bad parents? What if we say no and no one else says yes? If we say no, will people stop asking? What if we say no and someone does it better? What if we say no, and someone wants to know why we said no?
I am guilty of saying yes to often and no not enough. I am a people pleaser. I want to help people, so I say yes....often. I say yes even when I know that I should say no. I say maybe and usually end up saying yes. I have a dear friend who doesn't say yes or no right away. She says thank you for asking, I need to pray about it. And she does. Sometimes she says yes, but other times she says no. She knows when no is the right answer for her. We all should be that confident.
So far, 2017 has been a struggle for me. I am struggling to find my balance, let alone find time for more of what I want and need. I feel like a really bad juggler lately. I have lots of balls in the air and I keep dropping them. Things that I have said yes to this year haven't been done. I need to do a better job of saying no. I need to pray when asked to do something so that I know if yes or no is the correct answer. I need to evaluate where I have already said yes and see if the answer should instead be no. I need to learn (and know) that it is okay to say no.
Right now, I have several major things going on in my life...caring for aging family members, working full time, searching for a house, finding time to be a good wife and mother. and taking care of myself as well. As a good friend says "the struggle is real". My struggle isn't the same as her struggle, but it is very real to me. Some days, the struggle seems to overwhelm me. During this time of my life, I need to be able to say no. And I need to know that it's okay to say no.
No comments:
Post a Comment