Friday, February 5, 2016

I didn't say yes

For those of you who know me, you know how much I struggle with saying no. I used to volunteer for everything but recently I've limited it to things I really enjoy however that still is a whole lot of things!

Depleted but don't know why?

When you are a person who is always willing to say yes, you may find yourself depleted with no idea why. I found myself in that mode a few years back. My boys were little and I had barely anytime to do the things I really enjoyed doing because I was always busy taking care of everything else.

I decided to try something new. Instead of saying yes right away, I would give myself 24 hours to think about it. That truly has been a game changer. Allowing myself 24 hours to digest whether I really have time for something or I really want to do something has cut back on at least half the activities where I would be giving of myself.

What if I really want to do something but the timing isn't right?

Today, I was challenged yet another way. We were in our parent association meeting. The topic of parent education was brought up and the administration person was asking for volunteer help to put it together. This is something that is very near to my heart. When I was chair of our parent association a few years ago (the two years I was pregnant with my daughter and until she was one - perfect timing, right?) I put together a year's worth of parent education classes and loved every minute of it. It would have been so easy for me to say yes to being on this task force. I decided to take a moment and not put my name down right away.

I realize now, hours later, that I made the right decision but not volunteering for it right away. I'm on two committees at school already and that occupies a lot of my time. I realized that I want to branch out and help Denver CASA more in the next few months, an impossibility with my daughter going to school only 16 hours a week unless I don't take on anything else. Denver CASA is an organization that advocates for children in the foster care system. Truly an amazing group of people.

Balance brings on a sense of peace

I feel that finding a balance in everything that you do is huge. Knowing when to give and when to hold back is an art. An art that I am constantly learning how to manage. My tendency is to say yes first and think about it later. I'm trying to reverse that. Today I was able to and it really brought me such a sense of peace.

I trust that the parent education task force is going to do an amazing job and I will make the time to attend those classes without the stress of having put them together.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on how you set your boundaries! Always willing to learn new tricks :)

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