It's O.K.. to Say, "No"

When we are very young we hear the word NO quite often, probably too much. It is also, for the majority of us, the first word, along with daddy and mommy that we learn to say…
Why is it lthan that later in life it is the hardest word for so many us us to use? We are so quick to feel guilty because we allow others to impose their desires and expectations upon us.
A couple years ago Heidi and I began the practice of saying ‘no’ to things we simply did not want to commit to, or were honestly unable to commit to. Then we soon realized it was difficult to say no without adding an explanation.
Although we know, logically in our brain it is OK to say, Thank you, but no thank you, thank you for thinking of me, but no thank you, or so many other ways to say “NO” with out an explanation. It is not necessary to give details to ANYONE if you do not want to do something.
I began to be very aware that when I followed up with an explanation than one of these two things would occur:
1. If give an explanation, my explanation then becomes open for discussion (or debate) and I wind up committing to more things that I should or truly am able to.
2. If don’t really have an excuse, but don’t feel it’s right to say no, or don’t want to hurt the persons feelings, I lie and make something up. I than feel awful that I just lied and was not “impeccable with my word”.
I truly believe that sometimes, more often than not, it is OK to say no, I am learning to simply be grateful that I am invited and/or included in things or events or asked to do certain things because I am am loved and appreciated for my skills and talents but that I also have to value my time equally as much and if I don’t set boundaries than no one will ever respect me and my time and that will undoubtedly become a lifestyle . I will all too soon be unappreciated and the expectations will become too big for me, leaving me at times frustrated and overwhelmed.
So maybe, just maybe, that is precisely the reason it is the first word we learn to say…