What? No, again?

Hmmm ... now how did that get in there? This isn't the first time that disturbing little word "no" has come up. In fact, I've talked about it several times in the past (see References below). Previously, the topic of discussion was "freedom", that is true, but it would seem to me that the ability to say "no" penetrates deeper into our psyches than we might like to admit.

Saying "no" can, in certain circumstances, provide us with a necessary degree of freedom, but we can need to be free to do some things, but we also need freedom not to do others. This little word is not only an assertion of our selves, it is also a means of defense against unwanted actions of others, especially, as we have seen, in commercial affairs.

Granted, simply saying "no" is not going to keep you from getting robbed at gunpoint, but let's face it, the chances of that happening to me here in Germany are far lower than were I living in the US. It's unfortunate that it is that way, but that's the way it is. If, however, my fellow Americans - even in the big cities - were more community oriented, more open, more social, it wouldn't be that way.

(And before you just shrug me off as completely whacked with idealism, take some time and seriously think that idea through, to the end ... stop for a moment and go back over what I've been saying for the last few posts ... give some serious thought about how little things can combine and accumulate into something significant. It's always been my contention that we simply give up too easily.)

What I'm talking about more than anything is, when you get right down to it, is awareness. We often think we're doing something, but in truth we're not. Sometimes we think we're being honest, but we're not being completely honest. Sometimes we think we're treating others as we would like to be treated, but we're not. And sometimes, we don't really think about anything at all: we're simply on auto-pilot, we're in default mode, we're just too tired, too stressed, too you-name-it to make that little extra effort. We need to make the effort though. We need to be more awake and more aware, and we need to simply try a little harder each and every day.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and we're not going to change the world overnight, but if we never start, we'll never achieve anything.

References

1. What Does It Take? (2012-01-16)
2. And What Happened Here? (2012-01-18)
3. Just A Story? (2012-01-20)
4. Should We Duck For Cover? (2012-01-22)
5. Really Free? (2012-01-26)
6. Getting To No (2012-08-01)
7. How Do You Get What You Don't Want? (2012-10-06)
8. Maybe We've Got It Backwards (2012-10-08)
9. Does He Mean Me? (2012-11-23)