Saying YES to Saying NO

It's the easiest thing in the world to do as a parent some days...say NO.  OMG, I feel like I say it all the flippin time.  As we are leaving for school in the morning and JP asks if he can take this or that or something else that would act as a serious distraction to his already challenged learning environment...NO.  As we are walking through the grocery store...NO, NO, NO...800 times NO!  No you cannot have Lucky Charms and ice cream for breakfast, and no you don't need 3 pieces of beef jerky and a pack of Skittles to eat in the car on the way home even though you are starving and think you will die before we get there.  No, no, no.  The answer is almost always no. 

However, when it comes to everyone and everything else in my life sometimes I have a very difficult time saying no.  I want to make people happy.  It's just a part of who I am.  I want to please everyone as much as possible, and I am afraid that if I say no then I will not be accepted by them for who I really am.  Some day's I'm actually pretty good at being a chameleon...I can change who I appear to be at times based on who I am around, and while it makes me very happy to see those around me happy, a lot of times I can end up compromising my true self and needs in favor of others in the process. 

Often I find myself willing to accept less than I should from those around me and I am a master at making excuses for them or why I allow this to happen.  And, because I can't say no or turn down any challenge, I almost always have way more projects going on than there are hours in the day to complete them...all because I have failed to use one very simple two letter word. 

I've come to the conclusion lately though, that it's time for me to use the practice I've had as a parent and start saying NO more often.  This is by no means meant to hurt any one's feelings or make me seem unavailable (my friends, you know that you can always count on me), it's just me reclaiming my own priorities and not being willing to accept less than I should from life anymore.  There are a lot of things I want to accomplish in my life (my bucket list is enormous!!!) and I am going to try to get to them all, but I won't be able to if I keep letting other people's priorities or interests interfere with my own.

“Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” ~Tom Robbins