No. Is a Sentence
It’s okay to say NO.
I combined my October, November and December blogs during the month of December. Watch as I discuss them.
No. What a powerful statement. No is a sentence all within itself. Nothing more needs to accompany it to get your point across. I grew up in a generation of “yes-ers”. Yes, to this and yes to that. I thought I had to say yes when I was asked to do something. I thought I was supposed to get my list of things to do completed and not worry about the stress on my mind and body. This is exactly how I lived my life until May 2020.
That was the month that changed my life. I had started a new job that was demanding and the person I worked for intimidated me and made me feel less than. Because of this, I thought I needed to prove myself and work all kinds of crazy hours. I had a terrible panic attack that woke me up out of my sleep, which I know lasted 15 minutes. I thought I was having a heart attack. I thought “this is it, my life is over”. I remember calling for my daughters and they trying to comfort me and I eventually asked them to call 911. The paramedics arrived, took my vitals, etc., and I had began to calm down. I went to urgent care because what just took place truly scared me. Thankfully I was not having a heart attack, I instead was having a severe panic attack. Do you know why? Because I worked myself to exhaustion and was so busy trying to prove myself that I was burning myself out.
Also, during my time on this job, I kept hearing God tell me to “be still”, but I didn’t listen. So you know what? He sat me down. I had no choice than to be still when I was laid off from the job in August 2020. Initially…I was ticked off! “You mean to tell me I’ve worked all of these hours and put in all of this work, only for them to let me go?” Remember 2020 was the year of Covid-19…the time the world was in a pandemic. I was a conference manager planning in person conferences, so no one was going to live events at that time because the world had shut down. But, that’s not what I was focused on…I took the lay off personally.
I quickly learned that the panic attack and God allowing the lay off, were blessings in disguise. Had I not had the panic attack, I wouldn’t have began to take care of my mental health more seriously. Had I not been laid off, I would’ve still been trying to prove myself. All of these events led up to me being able to say “No.” and resting my mind and body.
2020 started my “year to no”. Not only “no”, but “no.” The period makes all the difference to me. It’s the end of the sentence. No, the end. There’s literally nothing else I need to say. No, I’m not available. No, I can’t take on that project. No, I’m not cooking today. Whatever my “no” meant, the period on the end made my point, “No.” I never thought I’d be able to say no without feeling guilty, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.
Now I focus more on my mental well being. My mental health is very important to me. No job, no career, no circumstance, or no person is worth my mental stability. This has been a life saver for me.
So instead of putting yourself on fire for someone else, learn the word “no” and be sure you put the period on the end.
-Ms. Positivi-T
