Favors

Do any of you have a difficult time telling people, "no"? I certainly do and always find myself telling people "yes." But you know what? My days of being a "yes" woman are over. I am finally putting my foot down and I have resolved to tell people "no." In fact, I've been practicing saying "no" and I will only get more confident with time. 


We all have different types of friends... we keep different types of friends around for various reasons, but the one type of friend we should rid ourselves of is "the taker." We all have friends like this and for one reason or another, we put up with their selfish behavior. I have a friend (or two) who are takers. I bend over backwards for these people time and time again, but it never seems good enough! Even when I try to say "no" I end up feeling guilty and eventually say "yes." It's almost like an abusive relationship and I keep coming back for more... over and over again. 


This past weekend, I think I said "yes" to a friend for the last time. I'm tired of being taken advantage and it's time I stood up for myself. I don't mind doing favors for people and I enjoy helping people, it's just that I cannot continue to put my life on hold for other people. And I wouldn't mind so much if the times when I attempted to say "no" I wasn't always guilted into saying "yes." 


Doing favors for people is similar to feeding a stray cat... if you feed a stray cat once, they'll keep coming back for more. The same can be said about doing favors for people... if you do a favor for someone once, they'll keep coming back for more. 


The kitchen is closed... the fat lady has sung... the "yes" train has left the station. I've resolved to learn to say "no" to people and feel confident in my answer. Enough is enough and I refuse to allow myself to be taken advantage of from this moment on. 


Love always,
Ian, Kim, Bella & Baby #2 


P.S. If you need a favor, please don't hesitate to ask. You probably haven't taken advantage of me yet... hehe! =)