The Power of “No”: Protecting Your Peace and Strengthening Your Mental Health

There are few words as simple yet as transformative as the word “no.”  It’s small, direct, and easy to pronounce, but for many people, it’s one of the hardest things to say. We grow up learning how to be available, how to be helpful, how to show love through sacrifice, and how to avoid disappointing others. But we are rarely taught how to protect ourselves. And so we stretch, and bend, and tolerate, until one day we realize we’re exhausted not because life is too heavy, but because we’ve said...