Living in the fall years of my life, the most feared word in my world is “NO”.  No, means I shouldn’t, or can’t, or must not do something or have something.  One of the first words we all learn as very small children is the word “NO”. And now that dreaded negative faces me every day.  Whether by respect of others or knowing full well that I will often ignore the admonition of “NO”, there are few that would tell me to my face “NO”.  What has happened is that here in my now and whatever is left of this finite number of years is most of the “NO” in my life has become self-imposed. With all honesty it is easy to say “NO” to my self urge to go run a marathon. “NO” is easy to someone with who understands the changes to lifestyle that comes from making a few more cycles around the sun. 

I have learned that going to COSTCO and buying 2,000 rolls of toilet paper may not be a good thing because the last 2,000 rolls are still taking all the storage space in the laundry room already.  When the pre-pubescent counter person at the local fast food restaurant says, “Would you like to supersize that?”, I have learned to say “NO”.  How did I learn to say “NO” to my self?

I have learned to say that word because I have figured out for every “YES” which I do say, inherently I have to say “NO” to something else.  I have learned with every decision I make, another decision is made for me.  If I say “NO” to two pounds of French fries covered with another pound of chili all covered again with grated sharp cheddar cheese, I am saying “YES” to being able to sleep tonight.

I am studying Haggai in the Old Testament.  The goal of all the city of Jerusalem was to rebuild a temple which had be destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar 70 year before.  The new King Cyrus the Persian sent the craftsmen and builders to rebuild the temple.  They had reset the foundations and then stopped.  They decided their own homes were more important.  I saying yes to their own needs they were saying “NO” to their religious and principal duties.  It was Haggai the prophet that had to remind them they had their “YES”, “NO”, priorities messed up.

What was going on in Haggai was the “NO” were getting in the way of their “YES”.  So I am going to be more careful in self imposed “NOs” with the hope of being about to say “YES” more often.