Lessons to live by

One thing I did not learn growing up was that I had a choice in situations. I always thought I had to do what people told me and that I had to always be the nice one.
It has taken me way too long to learn that as an adult this way of thinking no longer serves me.

One of my favorite lessons I have learned over the last few years as I worked hard to rebuild my life is that I do have a choice. And no, I don't always have to be the nice one. Especially if being nice means that I hurt myself in the long run. I now only focus on what helps me in the long run keep my vision of what I want my life to look like. This includes keeping good friends around, being the best family member I can to those that deserve it, being a rock star at the company I love and putting my health above everything else.

And sometimes this means I get to say NO to certain situations, people or things.
This concept actually makes me really excited. Why ? Because it means that I can think about things. I can take the space I deserve. I no longer have to do what others tell me to do. Most importantly it means I can stop all negative patterns that I have in life and make room for only positive ones.

I have been thinking a lot about this concept this week. Situations have happened over the week that do not deserve to be written about on this blog. But in each situation I held strong in the knowledge that I could simply say NO and move forward. This calmed my soul and allowed me to think of the situation for only about 5 minutes vs the 5 days it would have required in the past. It also allowed for me not to let back into my life painful situations and people that would hurt me again. What a relief!

So while I maybe saying No to certain things, I am on the other hand saying YES to a lot of things in life. I spent my Sunday playing soccer in the park with my nephew. I sat in the sunshine enjoying all the new growth of Spring. Drinks with friends. A wonderful dinner with other friends. I planted the start to my summer garden. I juiced twice a day everyday this weekend. I took care of my body and mind and lived life all week with ease and joy.

There so much good in the world that I only want to focus on that. I want to stay strong in my new life and just being really present to how wonderful life is. And I want to say that I have never been more grateful for the word NO than I am this morning.