Imagine having the pit in your stomach and wanting to say no to a request because you were taught to always say yes unless it is immoral. Your heart is racing because you do not know how that person is going to react if you say "no". You practice in the mirror every day if someone comes up to you to add to your workload that you already have to say "NO!" You are walking into work or school and someone comes up to you asking for help on something when your mind is saying "NO" but your mouth does the opposite out of habit. What do you do in that situation? Do you tell that person "nevermind" or do you stay silent and suffer? In this scenario, you say NO!

Practicing telling people "no" will improve your happiness and health. I don't expect those who are naturally helpful to say "no" to everything because if you're like me, it's going to hurt your heart. Learning priorities will help with everything. Learning to judge what is important and what can be left alone to another time is a beautiful skill to have. I'm slowly learning how to do this because of my health. I find that not kissing everyone's ass to be liberating. There are some who don't say "no" because of wanting to get "somewhere". Honestly, if that is how you roll, I'm not going to judge you. I hope that whoever you are that you are also taking care of yourself.

There is a stigma about women always saying "yes" and being submissive to whoever has the bigger voice. It sucks being part of that cultural norm because women have every right to say "no" as much as males. There are some countries where females can't say "no" because a man's word is law. I'm thankful to be in a place where I can say "no" legally but the pressure is still there to say "yes". There are people who unknowingly put pressure on others to say "yes" and that's not cool. We need to learn to respect each other's boundaries.

Imagine the day where we respect everyone's boundaries regardless of who they are. That is the day where mental health will be important. Saying "NO" is the first step to improving your life because if you overload yourself, you'll end up in a negative place that you shouldn't be. Imagine waking up in your bed not having to worry about anything. That is the dream for a lot of people especially those who don't know how to say "No" without feeling guilty. If a person tries to pressure you into changing your mind, that person does not deserve to be in your life. There should always be a balance in life. Helping others can be the greatest treat, but it can also be the biggest curse in someone's life. Remember It's okay to say "NO!".