"Power of No" Weekly Wisdom

 

How does the word "no" fit into your life?

 I am aware I have discussed the power of "no" in the past. I am not sure I quite understood how much power it holds in good and bad ways. My "no" has been said mostly for good but I did trip along the way - living and learning the lesson and the power. My podcast guest this month, Maria, shared the perfect complete and simple sentence in her blog to explain her 
"no" reasoning:  "For me, it’s about setting boundaries and saying no to situations, events, or even people that no longer serve me."

Setting boundaries. 

This is one of the most difficult things to learn in our lifetime. I think of myself as a pretty studious person, who knows how to stay curious, study, learn and absorb A LOT of material. But never could I imagine in my life so far, would I understand the challenge of learning of and living out boundaries. As Maria puts it "safeguarding your well-being and mental space."  Wait, I am allowed to do this?  Isn't this selfish?  

It is not selfish. 

If you struggle to take care of #1 (that's you), then you are never going to be in a good place to be of service to others - saying "no" is part of this equation. I started off with saying "no" to easy things like filling up my whole weekend with events. I would say "no" to at least one outing a weekend, knowing I needed that extra time for myself to rest and recharge. I had sincere feelings of guilt for letting people down and this included my family and friends. But I stuck to it, was consistent and it got easier. My family and friends still ask me (thank you for not stopping) but now they also understand where my "no" is coming from - from a place of being a better person and being better company when I do say "yes." 

It is not selfish, you are just giving yourself the power to do what is best for you. 

#Freedom | #EmbraceTheHellYeah

AE