User post: Can a Yes Woman Just Say No?

Like a lot of my Mommy Friends, I'm a Yes Woman.

I want to be everywhere and do everything for everyone. I want to be the first person on your invite list, thought of as a valuable contributor and your general go-to gal. In the prolific words of Cheap Trick, "I want you to want me. I need you to need me. I'd love you to love me."

I don't think I'm alone here. I think we, as women and mothers often times just say yes. Is it habitual? Do we do it because we want to? Do we do it because we think we're expected to? Do we do it instinctively? We work hard and care a great deal; it feels all too often as if everyone wants a piece of us.

I feel as though lately I've been giving myself away to anybody and anything just for the asking. And guess what, I failed to save a piece of myself for myself.

For this reason, I'm learning to say no. Even to things I really wish I could say yes to.

By learning to say no, I'm really learning to say yes. To myself.

Saying no isn't easy (like at all) but I'm hoping this conscious exercise will better allow me to devote my full self to the issues and individuals I've made a priority in my life instead of a whole lotta nothing. I wish my energy and time were limitless because my heart could go on and on forever, long after my body craps out. But I'm human. We're human.

And no today doesn't mean no forever, it just means no this time. While "no" almost always feels personal, I assure you, it isn't. It's not you, it's me. It's me learning to say yes to myself and perhaps more importantly, feeling validated in doing so.

So tell me, are you a Yes Woman who just says no?

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