SAYING "NO" , gratitude, day 25

Today I'm grateful for the right to choose and the right to say "no". As a woman and a recovering perfectionist my instinct has always been and still is to say, "yes" to every opportunity and project and to pile onto my proverbial plate much more then I should ever possibly juggle at one time. It has always been my mod us operand to take on more tasks, jobs, projects, goals, etc., then THREE of me should try to maneuver and then to smile, through gritted teeth, and say, "Please sir, may I have some more?" (That was an old Oliver Twist reference for anyone with a musical theatre bone in their body :) ). And the amazing thing is that somehow I always survive the stressful seasons and look back and marvel at how unscathed I am. BUT, (this is gonna be a HUGE but), there is no possible way avoid the consequences of taking on too much.  The consequences often don't reveal themselves as directly affecting you. If you are a life long multi-tasker like me then you know that it is the people around you who suffer the consequences of your limited resources of time and energy. It is the people who love us who get burned by our burn outs. I admit that I have been a part of many a conversation with a loved one where I was asked to please get my head out of the sand and to realize that my relationship with them was drowning. Sometimes I listened, sometimes I didn't.  My first marriage fell apart for several reasons but my jet-setter mentality certainly did nothing to mend the problems we faced.  I see now that if you are always running the rat race then it is friends and family who, if they continue to stick around, feel the sting of  always seeing you exhausted, tired, run-down, and drained.  Many a marriage has dissolved, in part, because one or two of the partners became more married to their work then to each other. And you know the funny thing? Nobody on their death bed is going to wish they had spent more hours in the office, making more money, or gaining more notoriety in the public eye. Investing in each other is the most important part of this journey.  No one can put a price on how truly valuable the time we spend with each other is.  Family, friends, community,...these are truly priceless treasures. I see that more clearly all of the time. And so I am very slowly working on learning how to flex my "no" muscles when I become starry-eyed at the next capital venture I see glimmering before me.  No man is an island and every time I throw myself into a project I recognize that I am making a choice that directly affects every relationship in my life.  I am certainly not advocating that I, or anyone else for that matter, stop working hard to create a better financial situation for themselves or to see passions and dreams realized. But I am suggesting that because we only have a certain amount of time and energy to invest that we, like any good broker, consider spending  more time developing investment portfolios that will reap eternal dividends.