Thought Distillery

A problem has plagued me off and on for some time, and recently it has reared its thorny head to make my life much more overwhelming than it need be. The problem I refer to is how difficult it is for me to say no. When someone like me suddenly finds himself awash in opportunity for fun, challenge, and new experience the immediate response is to always say yes, yes, yes! Only after saying yes and taking on too many new committments, do I remember all those old committments still in line for my attention. I then find myself in a sea of self-imposed promise and obligation. In a panic I try to row my tiny boat of time back to solid ground but get flooded and pushed back with every breaking wave that crashes over the bow.

Half-baked metaphors aside, saying no is a very useful skill to have and yet rarely are we ever encouraged to do so. Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying yes to yourself, your friends, and your work. Do so too much though, and you will likely experience a crunch which can threaten not only the amount but the quality of time you have to spend on all those promises. If you are like me, then you end up feeling stressed if you attempt to do it all, stressed if any attempts are half-hearted, and really stressed if you just drop one or more things completely. Suddenly your good intentions have made your life overly complex.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could just learn to say no on occasion? Perhaps then we could take back a little time and enjoy a little more simplification in our life. Its ok to say no. Say no at work. Say no to big business. Say no to the internet. Say no to this blog even.