When True Kindness Means Saying ‘ No ’

“Saying ‘No’ does not always show a lack of generosity and that saying ‘Yes’ is not always a virtue.” – Paulo Coelho To follow up on an earlier post, I wanted to take the time to address one of the most common myths surrounding saying “no”: that being generous or kind means saying yes to people. As I see it, the opposite is often true. This is true in several different contexts: 1. Sometimes giving people what they want is not what they need or is not in their best interest. We’ve all likely been in situations where people ask us to help them with something or do something for them that we do not believe to be in their best interests. This can include, but is certainly no limited to, people struggling with addictive behaviors or codependency. It can be particularly challenging to say no in these situations, especially when there is an emotional investment in the other person or when the other person responds with threats, intimidation, passive aggressiveness, or any other type of manipulation. The two most important things to remember in these situations are to 1) not take the other person’s request/ behavior/ communication personally and 2) uphold your boundaries. I will write more about how to say no specifically in my next post. 2. Saying yes to too often causes us to be spread too thin. This can lead to stressed inputs, mediocre outputs, and commitments left undone.  It is important to remember that when we say yes to everything...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: General Habits Mindfulness Self-Help anxiety Forgiveness Generosity Obligation Personal Time Self Care self-compassion Worry Source Type: blogs