Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves
Pema Chödrön
Yes or No?
Did you know that whenever you say yes to something, you’re saying no to something else?
A silver lining of the pandemic was not having to say yes to every request to meet, do a project, or something else you really didn’t want to do, but couldn’t say no. Many of those things we routinely say yes to, we couldn’t do.
It’s your decision
You make the decision to agree to a meeting, lunch, volunteer work, or whatever else it might be. That means you are giving up that same amount of time you could have spent doing something you wanted to do.
The decision could mean not doing some exercise to keep you healthy and fit. What are the consequences of that? The decision to stay up late to binge-watch that show on Netflix or scroll on your phone is really saying NO to a productive and alert morning.
Which of these yes items are important versus what you could have done if you said no.
Why is it so easy to say yes and so hard to say no? Do we have to please others? Does it make us feel important when we are so busy we can’t think clearly?
You have the right to say NO. Who is harmed when you say no?
The saddest thing I hear from older adults is they feel resigned when they are no longer needed and don’t feel relevant. Is that why we continue to say yes? If you say yes does it create a richer life, or would your life be richer if you said no and did the things that were important to you?
When you begin to care about yourself, saying no gets easier
Time is something you never get back. When you say yes, you give away a piece of your life.
What are the benefits of saying NO?
You can:
- Do your important work.
- Tend to your health.
- Be with and enjoy the things and people you love.
You deserve to say no so you can say yes to what you want and love
You can only hand so many hours of your day over to other people before there is none left. Even if there are some left, you may have lost the clarity, the energy, and the capacity to do anything with them.
Ryan Holiday
As we go into 2022, I am going to take a break for the next few weeks and decide what my true NOrth is. If I say no to you, it is because I am going to say yes to myself.
The one thing I won’t say No to is my exercise classes. If you are interested in saying yes to your fitness and health, please join us in January for a new class schedule, which you can find by clicking on my classes tab. It’s going to be a GREAT 2022. Let’s get our NO on!
Happy Holidays,
Sandi
