By Staff Reports
(DGIwire) – No. One of the shortest words in the human language. One of the first actual words issued by most human babies. An almost universal word, understood regardless of other language barriers.
No. A complete sentence in itself, as a wise person once pointed out.
At all times, we are each responsible for reducing and controlling our own personal stress. Nobody else.
Nobody causes your stress. Nothing is causing your stress or discomfort. Our interpretations and subsequent reactions to a person or situation result in us experiencing what might be defined as “stressful” emotions—fear, worry, and anger, for example.
There are certainly real sources situations and circumstances that can contribute to feeling stressful emotions: demands from clients, employee challenges, loss of a job, sickness, relationship problems and so on and on. How we choose to react or accept any circumstance will determine our sense of stress.
Unfortunately, lots of what we experience as stress is self-inflicted. Particularly during challenging economic times, too many of us take on more than we can reasonably handle. We forget that we need time to relax. We forget the word no. We forget that “no” is a complete sentence and explanations for our answer are not necessary.
For a whole week – try it. Try saying “no” to anything you don’t want to do. It is a scary, but amazingly liberating exercise.
When you start saying “no”, for many, your first reaction will be to justify your answer.
Remember: no is a complete sentence. No justification is necessary.
Try it. Yes, really. Say “No.”
No: The most liberating word in the world.