It can be really difficult to say no, especially when it’s no to something good or desired. But when we say yes to everything that looks good, we pile our plate so high, we run the risk of enjoying none of it.
I remember going to my first buffet restaurant with my grandparents in rural Washington state. I will never forget the smell of all the different foods wafting together. It was neither sweet or savory and there was an undertone of bleach. I’ll be honest, it was off putting.
But when I got a look at all the options, the smell became associated with choice! I filled that plate. There were peach slices floating in heavy syrup, macaroni and cheese, French fries, salad with ranch dressing, brownies and cookies and even chocolate pudding.
I sat down hard on the plastic booth bench and prepared to devour my plateful. But after a few bites of this and that, I began to feel a rumbly in my tumby, and shortly after that, I had to put my fork down altogether, and go horizontal on the bench, right there in the restaurant.
I learned two things that day.
Maybe my eyes were bigger than my stomach or maybe it was the mix of randomness that didn’t settle well. Either way, I walked out of that restaurant knowing more than I did when I walked in. First, it’s worth my time to be selective about what I choose to put on my plate, and second, quantity matters, and it is possible to have too much of a good thing.
Life is like a buffet. We may not have every option available on the planet for how our lives will go, but we have way more options than we have time to try! Even if we ran through our life, picking up every good looking opportunity we came across, we’d eventually get sick.
Saying no, even to delicious canned peaches and cottage cheese, isn’t saying we don’t value the peaches and cottage cheese. It’s saying, “not right now. Today I’m choosing brownies with ice cream.” It’s prioritizing what’s most important in that moment instead of allowing our thirst for more to make us sick.
So as we embark on 2023, let’s not repeat the overindulgence of 2022. Not at the dessert bar or in life. Don’t be afraid to be selective about the opportunities you say yes to. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing! By limiting our choices, we actually find more depth and profound insights in those opportunities we prioritize. I ended 2022 horizontal on that plastic booth bench, begging my stomach to keep it’s contents in place. I intend to learn from that experience.
Here’s to a year of balance, to time spent in deep connection, and saying yes to less.
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