Have you ever noticed how for some of us, the simple of act of saying no seems almost impossible to do. I find women in particular, myself included, have the most difficulty with this. Maybe it's because we feel the need to please everyone, that the thought of turning someone down makes us fear the unthinkable...we may disappoint someone. Unfortunately, many of us go through life putting the needs of everyone else before our very own.
We must face it, it's inevitable, in life we will disappoint someone, and someone will disappoint us, and it's very likely it will happen more than once. This is just human nature. The problem lies when we become riddled with guilt and begin ignoring our own needs. This is when we begin losing our own spirit and sense of identity.
Realistically, how can we care for anyone if we don't care for ourselves first. We've all heard it before, in order to love someone else you have to love yourself first, and you know what, it's true! Care-giver burden and burn-out is an all too real occurrence, and when it occurs, it's generally damaging to everyone involved. The fact of the matter is, we need to stop being people pleasers, and start taking care of ourselves for a change. So, my challenge to all of you is to do something just for you...read a book, bake bread, get a manicure, whatever it is that makes you happy. And then, take a moment, and see how doing this one little act makes you feel. Feel your physical response on your body as well as your emotional response. Remember it, because I know it's going to feel good! Now, whenever you are in a situation where you want to say no, but feel too riddled with guilt to do so, think about how good it felt to do something for your self, remember that you cannot please the world, and accept that it is ok to do what is good for you for a change.
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