People will treat you however you let them, pretty much. That is what I've learned. That if you go through life never being able to say "No," or if you spend your time trying to accommodate others in the hopes that they will be happy then before you know it you've rendered yourself unhappy, or worse. There's no easy way back. Once somebody's used to pushing you a bit they don't often like to be told to stop, sometimes it requires some pushing back.
I say this because I'm struggling with one of my personal relationships and a friend is struggling with an entire group dynamic, one in which it is a "make or break" situation for them and what they want out of life. In both instances we will have to learn to say no a little bit better. Things can not continue as they have been. It is easy to pretend that you can say no, it is another thing altogether to do so, especially when the persons on the receiving end of that "no" are not the type of persons that are accustomed to being told such a thing. So be it.
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Okay, I would write more but we're going to the beach today. It is what we do now, to watch the glacial waters rise around us, wondering how far up the hills the water will one day come, wondering how far we will all be able to one day step back.
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