I hate quitting things, even when I know I should. I feel bad saying no to outings, obligations, requests, even when I want to. Some years back I read Shonda Rhimes book Year of Yes, and while I did find the premise interesting at the time, the older I get the more I want to start saying NO.

No, I don’t want to go run that errand with you.

No, I don’t want to stay after work and help with a club.

No, I am not okay with my in-laws randomly dropping off crap that used to belong to my husband 25+ years ago because have held on to it all this time.

No, I am not okay with doing all of the vacuuming and mopping in this house.

No, I would rather not fold all of the clothes. I don’t wear all of them, so why do I have to fold and put away things that belong to other people?

No, I am not interested in this book I picked up after all, and I am just going to put it back down and be done with it.

No, I do not want to have people over.

No, I am not comfortable having people over if the house is not cleaned first.

No, I do not want to host your family for Thanksgiving.

This list is not even close to all-inclusive. It could probably go on for hundreds of lines if I really sat here and thought about all of the things I do that I do not actually want to be doing (I am well aware that everyone has to do things they don’t want to; does anyone enjoy scrubbing the toilet? I mean the things that are not specifically required of me either to keep my house running or that other people can do without me along for the {proverbial or real} ride). Also, how do you punctuate properly when there are parentheses inside of parentheses?

What if we all just started saying no?