Kev Kennedy's Blog

Saying yes = saying no

Have you ever heard that idea that to say yes to one thing means to say no to something else?

Recently I’ve been saying yes to a lot of work - part of the price of being a freelance writer (or hack if you’re being uncharitable) is that work doesn’t flow, it gushes and it rushes and then it drains away, like a wave on sand when the swell turns and heads back out to sea.

But when I say yes to work, I say no to other things, like spending time with my wonderful wife Kath, or joining friends socially. Saying ‘yes’ to a time-consuming task or job means saying ‘no’ to people I care about, and I’m beginning to wonder if I should be saying ‘no’ to them.

The dilemma is that to scrape a crust these days you have to work harder and harder. But is it worth it? After all, what’s the point of working all hours of the day to earn money, when you never have time to spend it? Or ‘succeeding’, when there’s no one to celebrate that success with?

So, I’m watching what I’m saying ‘yes’ to, because it’s so easy to forget that every time I say ‘yes’ I also say ‘no’.
 

Created on Mon 20th October 2008 15:12