A complete sentence: NO

“No is a complete sentence,” my friend shared on a text thread among my childhood friends. It was an important affirmation in a week where I felt like my “No”s were abundant. No to a new male hire in a potential client who wanted to jump over the female CEO and get things moving right away. No to a friend who asked me again for a favor in which I felt they were abandoning their responsibility. No to the mechanic who was backed up and asked if I could leave my car overnight. No to a coaching client who is tired of a demanding team that they supervise and now just wants to ignore them. No to a friend who wanted to shame a local nonprofit for aligning to business interests when that is their only stated objective. No to a co-working space who slapped a piece of paper that read “<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CezSW2_PQPP/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Lactation Room</a>” on a public toilet stall. <img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:700/1*VwvScpKKACY81PoiZYYCMw.png" style="height:267px; width:700px" /> I guess I’m getting good at boundaries. In some of these instances — all moments in which I had to consciously make a choice about how I would show up — I may have found some pleasure in it, delight even. I had thoughts of, “Oh this person is going to get some more information” or “Oh, you are going to be redirected now.” I also had thoughts of, “Jennifer, that’s not your burden to bear. You don’t have to take that on.” <a href="https://intldogooder.medium.com/a-complete-sentence-no-1f01319377bb">Learn More</a>