Your yes and your no

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Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. All of us are faced with the decision-making process daily. Questions that need answers.

Work, school, church, family, friends, sports, health issues, hobbies and many other extracurricular activities demand our attention. Some of us, depending on our season of life or choices we have made, feel like we are answering questions and choosing options all day long. Not just on the hour, but minute by minute.

Responsibilities, commitments and our direct involvement in outside activities often lead us into overdrive. Maybe even hyper-overdrive, possibly on auto-pilot. We find ourselves running from one activity to another. Stressed and overwhelmed. The more we do and the more our involvement, the more responsibility we feel to step up to the plate. Put our yes on the table. Volunteer for this one little project, just bake cookies for a cause or two, coach just this one season, sit on a committee at church and the next thing you know the calendar is highlighted with so many names and numbers that we can’t even tell its original paper color was white.

It’s not even that we don’t enjoy what we are doing. We are saying yes to “good things.” We are being a productive member of society. We are doing our share. But are we? Are we really taking on someone else’s task? Are we so busy running and doing that we don’t stop to take inventory? Do we feel like we just don’t have a choice?

But you know what? We really do have a choice.

My dear friend Anne once told me that before you say yes to something, what are you saying no to? If you say yes to one more committee, one more volunteer position, one more night out of the house, another day for a playdate, what has essentially been given a no? Reading to the children at bedtime, having a cup of tea and conversation with your spouse, not getting the laundry done until midnight, one more night of take-out for dinner, no homeschool accomplished, not even one moment of time to sit and be still?

Many of our situations and decisions are similar. We can all relate to the pressures and demands of daily life, inside and outside of our homes. Even if the questions are the same, we each have to weigh our own answers. We have to stop, think and take the time to process the balances of our yes in regards to our no.

So I encourage you, as questions for your time, energy, commitment – your life – are inquired of you, think about your yes and your no.

As many of you know and as my “About Me” shares, I am a run-through-the-field-of-flowers kind of gal, but I still need to stop and make sure I am in the right field and smelling the flowers that were meant to be on my path.