Simply say "NO"

I know I have not been blogging a lot this month. Things have been hectic between traveling for vacation, traveling for work, and the bare basics that need to be done here at home I have been feeling a bit stretched.
O.k. a lot stretched. There is always something that needs to be done...groceries, dishes, dinner, laundry. Not to mention work and family.

So today I am home on the couch - again. The usual sinus infection and asthma. I really have to learn to step back and take better care of myself.  I can take care of everyone around me but have not learned to say 'no" before I get so run down I can barely function. I am doing better now. Really...I don't go to work sick at all anymore. Before I took this job I would go to work sick all the time and most likely made a lot of other people sick.  Now I am not allowed in food service areas when I am sick- Yippee!! I can actually stay home. Resting, however, is really hard for me unless I am running a high fever.

That now finds me on the couch, a diet soda at my side watching old re-runs of  "In the Heat of the Night." A chicken is cooking in the crock pot so at least we will have a good dinner tonight. I can sleep easily this afternoon without worrying about much.

Now I need to remember that the word "no" is an option and I can use it to make life easier. I can tell my coworkers to contact our boss sometimes and let them make their own mistakes instead of spending my time doing some of their work for them. I could have been home early yesterday but I did not use "no" even though  I was exhausted with a screaming headache. Instead I helped someone else finish their work.

I just had a chance to put this into action. A co-worker called and asked me a question I would have had to look up on my work computer. My work laptop is not even on right now so it would have taken a minimum of  15 minutes and I would have had to get up and try to find the answer for him. I simply told him I was sick and asked him to call our boss. My coworker is a great guy so he told me to feel better and had no problems with my "no".  Too bad I can't do that more often.

Maybe some of us believe that if we say no we are 'less than" or we don't measure up. Or maybe we have been been taught that saying "no" is a weakness. Society and the big ad companies tell us every day that we can do anything and be anything if we buy the right products or take the right medicines. Thus we are told we can be all things, to all people, at all times. With the right drug or the right time saving device we can do more and be more than we were ever intended to do or be.   Even if the ads don't say it specifically  they go out of thier way show  people boating, biking, running, gardening, and generally being happy in beautifully landscaped exteriors and impeccably decorated interiors.

All of this is coming at us fast and furious. With all this pressure how then is someone to maintain any degree of balance in their lives? I guess sating "no" when necessary is a start.

I am off to the doctor and am saying "yes" to myself.
Jo