Saying no just got easy. Just like that.  I had this minor epiphany today. Of course, it could be true that I’ve had this epiphany before and forgotten it…this certainly happens more than I like to admit. But bear with me, because right this minute it feels new and fresh.

Let me back up a minute…about a month ago, I decided to join a dragon boat paddling team. I checked out the options and picked the newbie beginner group that meets only on Thursday mornings. All the other groups met twice a week with competitions and all sorts of involvements required. Perfect says I, I’ll just switch yoga from Thursday to Tuesdays and voila! I’m a paddling queen and it’s only a one morning a week commitment.

Except. It hasn’t officially started yet and I’ve already been invited to four different events…two different get-to-know-each-other Friday hikes, one official-launching-of-the-boats and a get-together coffee/meeting.

I love all of these ideas and it’s really cool that people are making a huge effort to create a cohesive team, but I am trying to ensure large blocks of time for my writing project, as well as keeping my previous morning commitments. I already do Trail Therapy every Friday morning, yoga one morning, as well as my Monday/Wednesday walks and I like to keep time free for Vancouver meetings and events…

I’ve been feeling guilty about saying no to these invitations. Hello!? Clearly, it’s merely being offered as an option and all I had to do in order to feel free to say no, was to say yes.

Yes to my writing, and yes to my original plan for signing  up for only one day in the first place. Saying yes to my priorities made saying no easy. And guess what? They have more than enough people and no one cares. The only one bothered by my twisting on the ‘Should I?’ rope was me.

But today I figured it out. When I’m saying yes to honouring and keeping my promises and agreements with myself it’s easy to say no to whatever doesn’t fit.

Just say no. It’s easy.