No.

My word for this year is LEARN.  

So it just makes sense to use this Year of Sundays to reflect on 52 of my most significant Life Lessons.   Some may seem more significant than others, but each one has changed how I live my life in powerful way.   I’d love to hear if and how any of these same lessons have surfaced in the classroom of Your Life.

“No.”  It’s a complete sentence.

Earlier this week I read a post from Kevin Ashton about how often ‘creative people’ say “No.”  Frankly, it rocked my world.  ”No” is not a tough thing for me to say.   How I feel AFTER I’ve said it CAN be kinda tough, though.

Sometimes I feel guilty.  Sometimes I feel fearFULL.  Sometimes I just feel like a slug.

What I’ve learned about using THIS ‘N-word’ is that it takes practice.  And it takes honesty.  I think many of us are trained NOT to say “No.”    We have I had to retrain myself.   I really DO get to choose where I contribute my time, energy, trust, faith and money.

And what I’ve learned about dealing with my feelings is that I get to feel the ones I need to feel and walk-away from the ones I don’t.   Remember that Ray Charles song, “I Can’t Stop Loving You”?   The next line is, “I’ve made up my mind to live in misery…”     Yeah – not so much.

So as I continue to practice using my “No” muscles, I’m also going to strengthen my choices in honest and healthy feeling.

PS – I still DO say “Yes”,when it’s the right thing for me to say.

What say ye?