Simplify Your Life By Saying No

I've always been a yes girl. As long as I can remember, my answer is almost always yes. Someone needs something? I'm your girl. There's a party? I'll be there. Church is starting a new team? Sign me up! I'm not really sure if it's just in my blood or if I have an inner need to please everyone. It most certainly could be both. In fact, it is. I'm a people pleaser through and through. That's how God made me. I want people to be happy. I want them to experience love, laughter, and joy. But I can easily let my own insecurities take over and do it for the wrong reason.

As we move along in life get married, have kids, grow communities, AND continue to say yes to anything and everything, we start to feel the ill effects of a busy life. We can grow so accustomed to saying yes that we forget how to say no. And while pretty much everything I've said yes to is something that is important or needed, it doesn't mean that I was the one who should be doing it.

So how do we learn to say no?

It's so important for us to take an assessment of our lives and look at the end picture. Who do you want to be in one year, five years, ten years? What is your purpose and what do you think God wants you to be doing? If we don't know where we're going, we'll be running around aimlessly doing anything that seems "right." The problem is, there are lots of "right" things we can do that can steer us off of the path God has laid out for us.

I've heard this phrase time and time again and it's finally starting to stick with me.

If the devil can't get you to do bad things, he'll make you busy doing lots of good things. {Tweet That}

Ain't that the truth?! I can fill my life with hundreds of good things. I can keep a perfect home, a perfect budget, a perfect schedule. I can sign my kids up for every sport known to man. I can join lots of clubs and book studies. I can feed the homeless every week. I can serve on 5 teams at church....none of those are bad or "wrong" things. But if they're not what God's asked me to do, then I'm wreaking havoc on my life and the lives around me. It's a disservice to do lots of good things when I could be doing a few GREAT things.

Does this mean you have to say no to everything? Absolutely not. But once you have a better understanding of who you are and what you should be doing, you'll have more confidence to say no to the things that aren't going to help you fulfill your purpose.

And don't forget that rest and fun are a very healthy part of life. You need rest. You need to relax. You need to do something wild and crazy once in a while!

Tell me. What are some things you need to start saying no to?

This post is part of a series 31 Days of Simplicity. If you want to learn to create margin in all areas of your life, you may want to check out my new book, The Simplicity Project.

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