We've all heard it before - just say NO. Simple, right?

If you feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities, say no more. If there's too much on the calendar, you need to say no. If you struggle to manage everything on your plate...

Just say NO!

For many of us, the struggle usually looks something like this: after an awful season of taking on way too much, or of incredible busyness, we swing clear to the other side and just start clearing our calendars.

We STOP everything, or almost everything.

Sometimes, this is exactly what we need to do.

Sometimes there are emergencies or radical changes to our life that we simply couldn't predict, and everything has to immediately shift in order to make things work. Sometimes, we have to fully clear our schedules.

But most of the time?

We must learn the art of nurturing our NO response a little better.

A lifestyle of taking on w-a-y- too much, then dumping responsibilities (again and again) is a clear sign for maturity in our decision-making ability. We're swinging back and forth, back and forth, instead of gaining traction and moving forward.

Learning to Say No

To live purposefully and intentionally does require we learn to say NO to things not priority at this time in our lives.

In order to do this, we need our YES very well-defined. Here are a few tips to help get you thinking:

1. Know your season of life. Understanding your God-ordained purpose in this current season of your life is really important. We can't do everything, and especially not all at once.

2. Embrace your YESes and Nos. Ask yourself (and spouse if you're married) these three questions based on evaluating your season of life:

what things might I/we need to take a hold of?
what things might I/we need to release?
what things or situation are simply out of our control? (and we must release to God's hands)

Giving thought to these questions may spark some interesting conclusions, so be ready to embrace whatever steps you might need to take!

3. Remember you can't please everyone -- please God the most. Disappointment from others is sort of inevitable, and it's okay.

You may not be as available as before as you focus energy and time on the YES answers for your life, but you're on a better track.

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Nurturing your no response takes time, practice and will change as seasons of life change.

So, be gracious with yourself!

photo credit; post by Daniele of Domestic Serenity