Saying NO allows you to say YES!

Sometimes it's easy to say 'yes' to everything, it's a very different story trying to fulfil those obligations! I can be very impulsive and have been known to say yes to anything that interests me, or just saying yes to placate others. The lovely thing about getting older is the wisdom to know that if you say yes to something, you are actually saying no to something else.

Yes, you would love to be on the Committee for XYZ, thank you, but that may mean that you can no longer go to the Talk on ABC. Yes you will get involved in the P&C Association, but, oh dear, you won't be able to read Miss 7 her bedtime story.

Saying no can take a great deal of bravery, especially if it's to your Mother in Law or the incredibly efficient & bossy mum from school. However, taking the step of 'no, we're not enrolling him in pole vaulting, he already does one after school activity' will allow you to watch Master 5 jumping on the trampoline instead.

Some great ways to say no are

• No, but thanks for thinking of me
• No, I'm in the middle of a big project
• No, our family doesn't do XYZ
• No, it doesn't fit into this years goals (thank you to Charlie Chapman for this one)

I must say that my all time favourite way to say no is "NO". As my amazing grandmother used to say 'It doesn't require an explanation and one would have to question anothers motives by insisting on one'. She was one very brave woman but I guess at nearly 6' she commanded a certain amount of respect!

Watch me mum!

Only say yes when it fits in with you and yours and enjoy what saying NO brings!