Is there anything more difficult than saying no to someone?
No seems so final and edgy. Yes, seems so much more positive. I think about the times I have said no to someone or something as positive. Historically yes has carried with it the need to meet expectations not previously agreed upon. The lack of confusion, assumptions and expectations are just a few of the by-products of no. Receiving a no in any context strains us to refrain from attaching a negative reason to that no. We immediately attempt to provide an explanation when we are not given facts to support a no. I think we need to “spin” that no into a positive frame, so we accept it without feeling bad. We second guess ourselves and start supplying unnecessary backstory to why the person said no. I think we need to be more accepting of no. Sure, we want to be parsimonious with no. I don’t think anyone wants to be considered a no person but distributing yes answers at every request can render that yes hollow. The same can be said of no. Too many and we are just arbitrarily responding without due consideration.
The goal is to achieve the Good Book’s standard “let our yes be yes and our no be no.”
Albert R. Hartley
Currently Reading:
The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson
By: Bernard Ballyn
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