On Saying No

As I was brainstorming this post I was reading the title, "On Saying No" and it got me thinking - there is a time to focus on saying YES and there is a time to focus on saying NO. I'm currently in a stage of life where I'm dishing out more "noes" than I am "yeses" and sometimes I let guilt get the best of me.
This semester has been TOUGH. Tough content in my classes. Tough managing 4 classes, 2 jobs, a research assistant position, weekly volunteering, and shadowing SLPs (amidst regular life duties and applying to grad schools). Tough to wake up feeling well rested every morning. Tough to be okay with saying NO somewhat frequently.
I'm such a YES person. I usually overbook and spread myself too thin. I don't like letting people down. But this semester, in order to remain halfway sane, I've had to start implementing the word  NO into my vocabulary. And guess what? IT'S OKAY. It's actually healthy. Because I couldn't imagine saying yes to everything that I normally agree to right now. I would seriously lose my mind. And the people who I'm saying no to understand that. They see how packed my schedule is right now. They know that I'm working really hard toward a specific, time-oriented goal. They know (and I'm learning) that this stage of my life won't last forever. 
Sometimes saying no to someone else means saying yes to yourself. Yes to accomplishing things that you've set out to do. Yes to filling up your cup so that in the future you can freely and fully give to others. Yes to taking care of yourself. 
So remember - it's okay to say no. 
xo, Jesslovelylittlethingsblog.com