No isn’t just for 2 year olds. Life Lesson #37

OR “No is a perfectly acceptable answer.”

Ever met anyone who won’t take “no” for an answer? I’ll bet they get things done. I’ll bet they succeed. And I’ll bet they leave a wake of relational destruction in their path.

“I never take no for an answer.”

That, my friends, doesn’t make you persistent. It makes you a bully.

I actually learned two lessons here.

First, the people pleaser in me had to realize that when I can’t say “no” to anyone, I actually say “no” to the people I say I love the most.

“No” to my kids because that project at work isn’t done. “No” to a quiet diner my wife because the text needed answering. “No” to my priorities because I couldn’t muster the courage to say “No.”

The other lesson I learned was about people who won’t take “no” for an answer. I learned I don’t want to be like them. Because though they may be right, they may be smarter than the rest of us, more brilliant and almost a rival for God, I don’t want them as my friend. Or in the mirror.