it's ok to say no

It's hard for me to say no. I'm a yes person. 

Although that's good in many ways (ask my children) it's not always good for me.

I am learning that in order to take care of myself I need to say no to people sometimes. If you're like me, you feel obligated to say yes to every single request made of you.

Even though I'm ill people still ask me for favors. And, even though I'm ill, I still say yes way more often than I should. Like always.

Or, I feel obligated to say yes to a social event, even lunch with a friend or a phone call,   when I feel my very worst.

I am starting to let people know I'm more likely to be social or helpful during the day. I haven't worked up to "no" in all circumstances that don't work for me yet. Besides, I may want to- as long as it isn't depleting me of everything I've got (which isn't hard to do).

My point is that it's okay, more than okay, to say no. We have to put ourselves first. No one else is putting us first, so we have to do it. And when we do we feel a little bit better because we aren't stretched out in a bunch of different directions.

Putting ourselves first isn't selfish. It's okay to take care of ourselves and that often means we have to say no to the requests of others, whether it is to do favors for them or to hang out when we don't feel up to it.

I know it's okay to just take care of myself. When I feel good I'm always up to seeing, or at least talking, to my friends. And if I have to say no to something, it's always for a good reason.

I guess it's just a matter of paying attention to ourselves. The people who really care about us will understand.

peace and love,
sunee

easy and breezy

Sometimes it seems as though every single possible stressful event that could happen does.

I am a victim of living in stressville. In stressville I obsess, panic, project and feel awful. In fact, because of my fibromyalgia and autoimmune disease I feel awful because it actually makes me ill to get stressed out.

However, from my experience life really doesn't give more than we can handle and a positive attitude helps us (well, me at least) get through the challenges.

Having a few positive resources available helps. It's never a bad idea to feed our mind and souls with good thoughts and positive ways to change our thinking. (I keep many books and positive lifestyle reminders available at all times!)

But what can really help get us on the easy breezy lifestyle track is remembering what makes us smile, laugh or let loose. For example, listening to music. Or, better yet, dancing to our favorite music. Even five minutes of letting loose can completely change our attitude and begin to lower our feelings of despair and stress.

Play a game. Watch your favorite movie. Do something artistic. Go outside. Go for a walk. Go for a bike ride. In other words, summer time opens up a bunch of feel-good activities for us to just relax, roll with it and enjoy an easy breezy life.

So, have some fun. It's better than okay, it's imperative.

peace and love,

sunee