On the Art of Saying "No"

I can't believe it took me 30 years to figure out that the way the Church keeps people out of trouble is to keep them so busy they don't have time to get into trouble! Fact!

What is the opposite of magnifying your calling? Because that is what we need to start doing up in here. We have been so busy, we've barely had time to breathe, and something has just got to give.  Luckily, we have a nice trip out of town planned in a few weeks, after which we plan on dropping off the face of the planet for awhile.

We had this great Sunday school lesson last Sunday during which one of the members of our stake high-council made the comment that while we are supposed to wear ourselves out in the service of God, it's all about balance, and what wears one person out might be a lot more or a lot less than what wears another person out, and that we shouldn't judge ourselves or others about what that "wearing out" limit might be. He speaks the truth!

My limit has been met, people, and it's time to start saying "No!"  (I wish I could say things like "No, get your own stinking life together!" or "No, you are too emotionally needy and that's why no one wants to be your friend!" or "No, I won't teach your class at the last second because you didn't bother to find someone to do it before even though you knew you were going out of town three months ago" or "No, I will not play for you so you can sing some crappy Sally DeFord piece" or "No, I will not baby-sit your kids because it is making me not want to have kids of my own" or "No, I don't want to go to another girls night, because I actually like spending time with my husband and don't want to sit around listening to you complain about yours or complain about how awful it is to be a mom." ---you get the idea.  I will just have to stick to a plain "No, sorry, I've already got plans.")

Oh, and one more thing. It is super manipulative to call someone up and say "Hey, what are you doing this afternoon?" or "Hey what are you doing next Thursday?" or "Hey what are you doing _____"?  If you want or need something, just ask. Don't tease me into thinking you're going to want to do something fun, when you really just want to find out if I'm free to _____(Fill in the blank)____ for you.

Okay, rant over.  All I'm saying is that sometimes "No" isn't such a bad word, and I plan to use it a lot more often in the near future.