Sometimes, it is okay to say no

Why saying no sometimes isn’t a bad thing

I think I need to get a tattoo on my wrist that says ‘Sometimes it’s okay to say no’. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes saying yes will be the best thing you’ll ever do. I’ve been on trips with friends when my bank account was screaming at me “please for the love of God, don’t” and they ended up being the best times of my life. Parties, concerts, you name anything a young 20’s person could be asked and even if I wanted to say no, I ended up saying yes and I either had the best times, or met people who changed my life or any sort of positive butterfly effect that came because I said that magical three-letter word.

I work in healthcare, which as I’m sure you can imagine during a pandemic, isn’t easy. Seeing people going out and about without a care in the world while a pandemic rages does suck. On top of that I’m a fulltime student. I’m burnt out from a half-semester at uni, trying to keep on top of my work, as well as being social, as well as one can in lockdown. I’m doing all the things one is meant to do. I eat healthy, exercise daily, meditate, take my meds, all of that. I’m tired. My body aches in all the ways someone of my age shouldn’t be suffering. I was asked by work if I wanted to pick up an extra shift. Considering I’ve still got a job when so many don’t, I said yes. And immediately regretted it.

The word ‘no’ has such a negative connotation attached to it that many people, including yours truly, try to avoid it like the plague. But as I write this, tired eyes struggling to stay open, knowing just how much more exhausted ill be this time tomorrow, like I did earlier today when I told work ‘yes’, I look at my wrist at my wrist and imagine those words there, etched into my skin in black ink.

Sometimes, it is okay to just say no.