Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Are You Good at Saying NO?


Letters to My Lover, I said No, No, No
©Kim Radatz, 2011
I hope you are better at it than I.  I suck at it!

But 10 days of unexpected down time has forced me to rethink how I spend my energy from day to day.

I fell down the stairs 7 years ago. Graceful, I am not. As I was airborne I made a conscious effort to protect my spine from a direct hit. Quick thinker, thankfully, I am. It worked, though I did suffer some permanent damage. Multiple herniated disks top that list. Which periodically rear their ugly heads and force me to stop everything.

Hence the rethinking.

I know my priorities. I make lists. I remind myself. But inevitably I say "yes" to things that take more out of me than I gain in return. This has to stop.

I don’t expect to change completely overnight, but hopefully I will remember to take care of myself and my needs first. How can I help other people when I need help getting out of bed?

I'll keep you posted on how that goes. :)

I did manage to make more envelopes for my Letters to My Lover series which will be in the SCOPE show in Miami next week. Nothing like a motivator such as that! :)

Here are a few that I’d like to share with you:

Letters to My Lover
©Kim Radatz, 2011

Letters to My Lover
©Kim Radatz, 2011

Letters to My Lover
©Kim Radatz, 2011


And now I am going to go get ready for the holiday tomorrow. Down time will have to wait.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, my friend! May your heart be full of love and may many blessings come your way!

10 comments:

Candace Knapp said...

For me it is about discerning when I should say no. I have learned that it is good to be open minded to opportunities. I trust my gut to tell me when something is not right for me. The trick is to calm down enough to hear the inner voice.

wendy said...

THIS apple doesn't fall far from your tree. Luckily your grandaughter is better at saying NO! Haha

Jenny said...

I found myself saying yes to an all day commitment just yesterday, when I really needed to stay home and work. It slipped out before I even thought about it. I ended up feeling angry all day and I am sure I was a grouch. So, lesson to self... learn the phrase, "I am not sure. I need to check my schedule!" When will I ever learn!
Hope you are better soon.

Kim Radatz said...

Candy,

Yes, calming down, slowing down, good advice I shall try to heed.

Thanks for your input!

Kim Radatz said...

Wendy,

Hopefully Riley won't unlearn the strength of no. Except maybe to her parents. :)

Kim Radatz said...

Jenny,

Learning to say "I'm not sure" is an excellent lesson. So the day was a good thing in a small, though less than fun, way.

I hope you get to catch up on that lost time soon!

Laura Tringali Holmes said...

Yikes. I hope this finds you progressing well in your healing. As to saying "no," I have found that, like most things, this improves with practice. The need to say "yes" comes from an insecure place. The ability to make choices...well, I have done a good job of that with my children, but have only recently applied the same principles to myself. It's a strange world we women live in.
Loving your work, as always.

Anonymous said...

Nope, not good at saying no, which leads to the regrets. Sigh. Yep, have some of those ruptured disc myself, from my youth when I didn't practice saying no then either. Hope you had a fabulous T-day. Really like those envelopes - they inspire me to head out to the studio. Have a great day. Kim

Kim Radatz said...

Kim,

Glad to hear my L2L's are inspiring to you! The best kind of compliment! Thank you. :)

Kim

Kim Radatz said...

Laura,

Thank you, yes, I am healing. I’ll be testing my endurance as I go from show to show in Miami this week, but walking always makes my back feel better. My feet, however, might feel differently! :0
I agree, the yeses do come from an insecure place, which I am trying to master. Getting better at it all the time.

Thank you so very much for your kind comments about my work. Helps assuage the concerns about the path I am on and gives me faith that tonight at the VIP reception all will go well. I hope. Thanks!

Kim