Learning to say no expands our ability to say yes and mean it.
Most of us are taught from a young age to “people please.” This means we’re supposed to be helpful and friendly and say yes when people ask us to do things. And let’s be honest, saying yes is usually a lot easier than saying no. If we do what people ask, they tend to like us (even if they don’t respect us). Recovering addicts, because we’re working so hard to “be good” and to make amends, can sometimes fall into this yes trap, agreeing to do things that push us away from our number one priority—staying sober. In recovery, it is important to evaluate all requests with “recovery first” in mind, and we needn’t feel bad about saying no to anything that might push us away from our desire for sobriety, happiness, and living a better life.
Just for Today:
Evaluate requests and demands on your time from a recovery perspective, saying yes or no as appropriate.