No..No...No...

Do you respect yourself? Do you respect your time? Because if you respect yourself, you’ll also respect your time. You’ll be very conscious of how you spend it. You’ll say no to things which aren’t a good match for your interests, because you know you deserve more than that. You’ll say no to things that you don’t enjoy, because you rather spend your time doing things you love. You’ll say no to people who don’t appreciate what you do, because they are just not worth it. You’ll say no to people who take you for granted, because it’s a waste of your time.

Many people say yes to things they don’t like because deep down, they don’t value themselves in the same way. They see others as more important. They see themselves as less important, that their time is dispensable, that they are not valuable. They keep putting themselves out there, sacrificing themselves for others. For the same reason, they don’t value their dreams. They look at their dreams and think “This is just a dream. It’s not worth going for. It’s never going to come true”. Then they just put them aside, and do things they don’t enjoy, day in and out.

If you don’t even respect your goals and dreams, then who is going respect them? If you don’t even think they are important, who is going to think they are? If you don’t say no to things you don’t believe in, then who is going to say no for you? If you don’t say yes to your goals and dreams, then who will help you say yes to them? When are you going to say no for real, so you can finally say yes to your dreams, and most importantly, to yourself?

Saying no is okay. We keep thinking that it’s not okay, that the other person will feel bad, that we’re being evil, that people will be angry, that we’re being rude, etc. While these stem from good intentions in us, the thing is most of these fears are self-created. If the person is open-minded, he/she will understand when you say no.

And if the person doesn’t understand and gets unhappy, I’m not sure if saying yes is a solution to the problem to begin with. After all, you can say yes once, but you can’t possibly say yes for the rest of your life just to appease one person. And how many people do you need to keep saying yes to before you finally have to say no? In such a scenario, there’s even more reason to say no so you can let the other party know exactly where you stand once and for all, vs. leading him/her on by saying yes.

There have been past situations where I was worried about saying no, because I was afraid the person would be disappointed, or that he/she would be unhappy, and bridges would be burned. And while it took me time to convey the message, nothing bad happened from saying no. Sure I felt bad in that instant where I said it, and sure the person must have felt disappointed, but it was never as bad as I thought it would be. Many times we continue to be on good terms, if not better, because now the relationship had become stronger from the experience. I also know I can be honest with this person in saying no next time too. And to think that I was worried earlier for so many things which didn’t even come to an good end!

Saying no is okay and it’s part and parcel of life. People say yes and no all the time every day in this world. You’re definitely not the only person saying no to someone else. So don’t worry about it. Being respectful in your communication is more important .

PS: You know I started telling no when I want to tell...I counted..I felt very bad ...I acted for the past 24 years for others.....I just lost my originality in many times....Here after no hard feelings..May be because of that I will lose some people in my life.....But Not me ...Am I right?