I said "No".

I just said no to something today.

This is a big deal.

It was something people thought I would be good at. Something people needed me to do. Something that even came along with a little money. 

And I politely but firmly said no. 

I don't say no. Unless it's part of the phrases: "no big deal", "no problem", or "no worries"...I want to help. I want to be needed. I want to be productive. Even when I may want to say no, it doesn't happen. 

Until now...

So, how did I come to learning this important word and actually using it?

Burn-out

In the spring, I allowed myself to say "yes" to one too many things. Sure, they were all worthy causes. But I soon found myself dreading many of my responsibilities and sick and tired of being sick and tired. Being burnt out, and having a spirit of exhaustion, is no way to live life - and doesn't allow you to invest yourself fully to any of your responsibilities. I'm still struggle daily on this one.

Priorities

In the past few years, I've learned the importance of knowing your priorities. This doesn't necessarily make things super easy, but it helps. And I choose to make a lot of things a priority in my life.

Quiet time with God. 

One-on-one time with my husband. 

Weekly time with our family. 

Dedication to church, our church family and worship. 

Time with our awesome friends whenever we can coordinate schedules. 

Campbell, my students, my boss and my co-workers.

 My home - making sure it is in-order, running efficiently, clean and cozy. 

These are the things that I have chosen to prioritize in my life, and I have to be okay cutting out other things.

Dreading weddings

The thing I said no to was being a (weekend) wedding coordinator at Campbell. Something it seems like I would be good at, sure...

but weddings are actually something that I'm not that crazy about. I appreciate them. I love seeing people's personalities come out in their wedding. And I love that weddings represent a commitment to marriage. But all of those things are because I love people as individuals and I love marriage. But I don't love weddings. I think people spend too much time and money on them - when they should be focused more on the marriage. So, I knew that I would be giving up more weekend time to do something good, sure, but something that I would end up dreading. And I'd much rather dedicate my free weekend time to my own marriage, loving on others in my life, taking care of my home, etc.

So I said no. 

It's still hard to admit, but I think I'm glad that I did.