100 Day Creative Challenge Day 79: Don’t Say Maybe
Say just a simple ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. The Bible
Maybe is such an open word. If I say maybe to someone they will hear yes. Maybe gives an out. It may or may not happen.
Being on the fence, being impartial, being between a rock and a hard place—these sayings give us a picture of one hand stretched out in front and another stretched out behind.
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Goethe
If in doubt, my policy is to say, ‘No.’ If I’m certain I say, ‘Yes.’
If I publicly say that I’m doing a physical challenge, then I will do it. I’ve said, ‘Yes,’ publicly, therefore to me it’s a commitment.
If I say I’m going to finish two novels this year that’s a commitment.
Saying yes means we must act.
Saying yes means we often need to say no to others.
This is not about being a ‘yes person’ or feeling pressured to do things we don’t want to do. It’s about having the courage and conviction to do the things we know we really want to do. So much so sometimes, they scare us.
Leap, and [then] the net will appear. Julia Cameron
Sometimes no is harder than saying yes.
I remember rehearsing this words in front of my bathroom mirror: ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no.’
When we are sure of who we are, what our purpose is and have sound boundaries, it gets easier to say yes or no.
Maybe is easy. Maybe is soft. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Don’t say maybe.
Concerning all acts of initiative or creation, there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. William Hutchinson Murray
