Say No and Love it
About two months ago, I refused for the first time plans on a Friday evening despite being available per se. I wanted to work on my blog and myself so regardless of how much I thought I would enjoy the evening where I was invited, I declined the invitation.
This was a very first for me. Not that I’ve never declined anything in the past but because it was always well-known to my circle that I would refuse only if I had work to do or was too lazy (which I would openly admit).
This time however, there was a strong burning desire to improve myself, to do things that I had come to love, and it is for this reason that I declined. I informed my friend who invited me that I wanted to read and work on myself which, obviously, brought upon me the indubitable reply of “why don’t you just do it tomorrow?”
I’ve been hit with such questions quite a few times in my life and I never had a good answer for it. But this time, I did:
“I simply don’t want to.”
Pushing back an evening for myself that had been exciting me all day long was not on the table. I wanted to spend time with myself, make myself a better man for myself and others both directly close to me and those who aren’t.
The impact I always felt I wanted to give to the world was finally starting to get a form and even though it was barely in the birthing stage, this was enough to get me extremely motivated.
I had thought about spending time with myself in the past but I rarely did it for the one reason that I didn’t want to “miss” anything at a party or event. If I could take part in something, I would; even though sometimes it was just for the point of being present.
We’ve all said “No” to someone in our lives, so you must know right now that I am not talking about the “No” to a simple question, in which saying it doesn’t require courage from you.
When you have gotten used to saying Yes to pretty much everything and being helpful to others all the time, those two simple letters can become extremely hard to produce out loud.
This being said, the happiness and pride of succeeding saying it will give you a thirst for saying it again and again.
Nowadays, I say it more regularly. While I do go out most Fridays and Saturdays, I have taken the habit of saying “no” when I feel that I can. It is still rather rare compared to some other people I believe but it is a start.
And starts are what we need to succeed.
