The Power of No

It only has two letters in it. It isn't and imposing word. It isn't hard to pronounce but it can be extremely hard to say. "NO". No I won't lend you money. No I won't let you crash on my couch. No I can't stop what I am doing to take you and your friends to the mall. Seems simple enough. So then please tell me why it is so hard for me to say it. And not feel guilty about letting someone you care about down. Why do I sometimes feel the need to say yes so that people will like me? Even at my age I still feel the need for people to like me. I thought I would be past this by now. I have a close nit group of friends who I rely on and I have a son who I cherish and people who may not be blood but are my chosen family. That should be enough.

My homework for this week is to say no. Simple and easy and hard to do. I think if we all can bring ourselves to realize that saying no will not turn away the people who actually care about you and bring to light the people that are just using you then we can grow past the things that hold us back in life. So this is what I am going to do. From this moment on. If you ask me for something and I just can't do it or I don't have time to do it. I am going to tell you no. How you receive my No is up to you. Know that my No does not mean I don't care about you. And it doesn't mean I don't cherish our relationship. It just means No.