If you're a human - currently living and breathing, you probably have heard someone in your life say "I would but i'm so busy.." once or twice...a day.
Don't get me wrong, my less than subtle sarcasm is not in any way saying that I do not believe what you are saying is fact. It is the fact that you have to say it that drives me mad. To me, I don't believe that you owe me anything.
We are twenty-somethings living in 2016, and for some reason we want everyone to understand how horribly crippled with work we are. As if this is a contest on who can cry tears of frustration more frequently. We fight each other night and day, rattling on and on about the mountains of homework we have or the fact that we are juggling three jobs, a full time status and 7 clubs and organizations that we work with.
I am a victim of this as much as anyone else, but what I think we all don't realize is that we are not superheroes. We want to wear the cape, fly above the clouds and save the day but it's not that easy. You're in college, you're working full time, you have three kids.....you don't have time to do all the things that you want to do in life and that is OKAY.
I always have people come up to my club board during involvement fairs and tell me that they wish they could be a part of it but they are just so busy. They list off their schedule to me and I just nod and wave as they walk away. Do they not realize that they don't have any obligation to back up the fact that you may just not be interested in my club? Why must you explain in lengthy detail why you're unsubscribing to my all campus emails?
We are not in need of making excuses for things that we don't like. We are not capable of doing every single opportunity that passes us by. Being passive, I have a hard time saying no and usually end up rattling off on some tangent about why I don't have enough time to exist.
If you think about it, as extensive as your story gets or the more often people here you say this...it becomes more of a slap in the face than a general "no" would have from the beginning.
We as humans feel so empathetic toward everyone that we find it so hard to just tell people the truth. We may be that busy but if we really cared about the cause, event or group we would probably make time for it. If we don't, we may not be as interested as others are and that is OKAY. We do not owe our time to every single individual on the planet earth.
So next time you tell someone that you wish you could have came to the event but you were so busy, check your heart and realize your true intentions. You may think it's a tad harsh to say "no thank you" to someone when they ask you to "sign here" or "Join us" in bold capital letters but I promise you it's the opposite.
They will appreciate your honesty and it will save them emails in the future. Stay true to who you are, never apologize for saying no to something you aren't passionate about. Leave the fluffy language at the door and you'll be surprised about how it changes the dynamic between you and others.