Learning to Say No

my similar shirt | watch | jeans | shoes | necklace
Bear's shirt | shorts | shoes | bow tie

If we look a little bit ragged and filthy in these pictures, it's because we absolutely were. My sis-in-law snapped these over Easter weekend and we were lucky enough to have the most beautiful sunny weather. Bear played hard with his cousins for nine hours straight, hence the red cheeks, dirt stains, and confetti in his hair. Let's just say he did not want to stop playing long enough to take these pictures.

The topic of this post isn't centered around Bear or parenthood, but rather life in general. If you know me personally you already know that I am a total people-pleaser. To a big fat fault. I am the worst in the world at declining invitations, or jobs, or samples at Sam's. I just can't. I'll accept the sample of summer sausage that looks like pig intestines (oh wait, it is), only to set it down untouched an aisle over. Such a waste, and all because I struggle with simply saying "No, thank you". I once quit a job via email, then just didn't show up to work or answer my phone. It backfired somewhat when my boss tracked down my parents' phone number (thanks google) and called my Mom. Overall not one of the best ways to handle a situation.

I turn twenty-nine this year, and I'm pretty sure it's time to work on this bad habit of mine. I say habit, because that's really what it is for me. I've made a routine of just going with the flow, rather than being up front with people. What I've finally realized, that is slowly changing my hasty "yes" response, is that I don't need an excuse. In the past, when Zach and I would get invited to a party and we already had a Netflix-binge Saturday night planned, I felt like I couldn't say no without a good excuse. But the truth is, the excuse was never necessary. It's okay to just say "I'm sorry, we won't be able to come this weekend. Thank you so much for the invite!"

I didn't want to tell the lady at Sam's Club that I think summer sausage is disgusting, so I wasted a perfectly good 1/2 inch piece of meat. Instead of getting into the whole nasty pig explanation, I could have just smiled and said, "No, thank you". Chances are she would not have started balling and quit on the spot. I can't believe it's taken me this many years to realize that it's perfectly acceptable to turn people down sometimes. In fact, it's often the right thing to do. Even though I've said "yes" in attempt to please people, it often results in the opposite effect when I fail to follow through. I guess I wasn't paying attention in 5th grade DARE when Officer Clark told us that it's okay to just say no. 

I'm working on this, slowly but surely, and I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes :). But be prepared that if you straight up ask me if I'm finally learning to say no, I'll probably answer with "yes" (whether it's accurate or not). 

Hope your week is off to a great start!
xo, Britt