Daily Mystic Messages - A Friendly PSA
Today I wanted to share public service announcement. A very simple one at that. And it’s this…
“Yes,” and “No,” are complete sentences.
I know that might seem kind of silly at first. But consider how often a clear yes, or no, is followed by a litany of reasons and justifications.
This habit of justifying our decisions is another facet of the need to be right where we get into over explaining. It’s a protective mechanism designed to do two things…
1. Preempt external resistance and criticism by making the case before it’s even an issue. and
2. It gives us a fall back position in case things go wrong.
On a deeper level this habit is often driven by guilt. It’s as if we’re doing something wrong, so a clean clear "yes" or "no" suddenly isn’t enough. We have to explain or justify our decisions to others.
Now if you have agreements in your current relationships you may need to honor those. But rather than jumping right to explaining, try letting your simple "yes" or "no" stand on it’s own first. There can always be more conversation if needed.
You might be surprised at how little explanation or justification is actually necessary.
Current agreements, spoken and unspoken, notwithstanding, you actually don’t owe anyone an explanation for your decisions. You can just decide.
And you’ll be amazed at how much freedom you find in letting your Yes's and No's stand on their own.
A word of warning, this can be a little jarring for people who are used to your lengthy explanations and justifications. One word sentences can feel short and harsh.
So it really pays to put your hand on your heart, and be as soft as possible so that the message can get through.
And once it does, life becomes so much easier and more simple.