“Saying yes to happiness means learning to say no to the things and people that stress you out.” (Thema Davis)
I’ve never really been that good at saying no. In fact, I’ve been downright awful at it quite a bit throughout my life. Most of that stems from the dysfunctional childhood I was raised in, where it was next to impossible to say no to an alcoholic mother prone to giving guilt trips and punishments. As I grew older, this unhealthy pattern continued, where I found myself doing things such as paying off other’s huge debts, loaning large sums of money to friends, buying a business for a loved one, co-signing a loan for a partner with poor credit, buying drugs or alcohol for those who were heavily addicted to either, and being coerced into having compulsive sex, all instead of saying what I really wanted to in each of these situations, which was no. Unfortunately, every time I didn’t muster enough strength to say no, the results were always disastrous. Thankfully, I’ve done a lot of work around this and am learning now how to say no now when my spirit tells me to do so. Just the other day in fact, I was able to turn down a short-term job offer with a nice sum of cash attached from someone very close to me that I knew wouldn’t be in my greatest, highest good. I must say, it felt pretty good to actually say no for once, instead of the alternative, which would have most likely only added stress and worry to my life. I’m so grateful that I’ve learned how to say no!
“I pray that I may learn how to say no to all the things and people that I know will stress me out and only add more unhealthiness to my life.”
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
