I have been working on cultivating a spirit of positivity. A "yes, of course!" mindset. I know a lot of books have been written on the topic of saying "NO", creating boundaries for yourself, respecting your limits, all that stuff, but have you ever thought of how you could improve your life, and the life of others by saying "Sure!"? It is not always easy, in fact it can be really hard. When your child looks at you at 9:30pm and says, "Mom can you sew my jockstrap tonight, it broke today at practice"--- meanwhile he has been home since 5:30, ate dinner, did homework, played a bit of video games, and it didn't come up until I was completely relaxed. Of course my gut reaction is to rant about how inconsiderate it is, and yes, I have been guilty of that rant more than once. What I aspire to do however, is to say, "sure honey" kiss him on the cheek goodnight, then remind him in the morning that it would be helpful to me if he presented me with these needs earlier in the evening. When a friend needs help, maybe their child needs a ride, maybe they don't feel well and are in need of a break, these things don't always happen when our schedule is wide open-- sometimes we have to put aside the busyness of our schedule and say "sure honey, I'd be happy to help, just let me know what I can do." "No" comes easier and faster on my tongue, followed by a list of reasons why I am too busy, or to tired to help (my sons, my husband, my sister....etc...), but I don't like the way it sounds coming out of my mouth. I don't like the way it makes other people feel. So, I made a choice a while back to say "Yes, of course", way more often than I say "No". I like who I am WAY better as a woman who helps. :)
I am helping to prepare a baby shower for a young woman at our church. She is young, just 22. Thinking about her, and what the future may hold for her and her little family, got me to thinking about life at 22. Much has changed for me since I was 22. That was really a difficult time. I didn't realize at the time that it was difficult. I had graduated from college, was having a post college, pre-real life, super good time. I was bar tending, partying, picking up and traveling to far away places to party some more. I didn't really have much in the way of financial responsibility yet, and my parents were living in Egypt-- leaving me in charge of the house and my younger sister. It was an "out all night, sleep all day", kind of life. To be honest, I was setting a pretty poor example for my sister, who at the time was working full-time at a nursing home, and was far more responsible than I was. Looking back at that time, and even later, till about age 25, it make...
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