Why We Struggle to Say No
As I write this, I have just said “no” to listening to my mother’s resentments about a close family member. I told her it would be better for them to talk things out instead of using me as their confidante.
Sarah is a speech therapist by day and a writer of inspirational lyrics and stories by night. A third-culture kid enjoying life in Singapore, you will usually find her bantering with friends over milk tea and secretly dreaming she could be a full-time lyricist, photographer and rabbit whisperer. Beauty through simplicity is her tagline! With a heart for the marginalised in society, Sarah also is the author/co-author of the books From Stereotypes to Archetypes and My Sentence to Success.
As I write this, I have just said “no” to listening to my mother’s resentments about a close family member. I told her it would be better for them to talk things out instead of using me as their confidante.
I grew up in a family where we were reminded to not “just sit there” but to keep our hands busy and help others out. This has made resting unsettling for me, as it seems to be the same as “doing nothing”, which doesn’t make sense when there’s always something to be done.
On New Year’s Day this year, great anticipation gripped my heart as I walked down the aisle. At the altar stood my soon-to-be husband, Kaizer. We had finally arrived at our long-awaited moment—our first kiss.
The world has conjured for us the image of the “perfect Christian”—that we are to have squeaky clean conduct, and always be doing good deeds. After all, didn’t our God ask us to be perfect as He is perfect (Matthew 5:48)?
If most of our travels rarely seem to provide the kind of rest and soul restoration we’re looking for, what does it mean to rest or take breaks well?
How do we navigate the mountain of decisions before us daily and not be paralysed into inaction? As believers, is there a better way to make decisions? What are the biggest considerations we need to be mindful of?
Here are four useful questions we can ask ourselves through the decision-making process.
“God, please give me a job that I would be happy to wake up to every morning for 40 years.” This was my genuine prayer right before graduating from university.
I prayed and asked God which path to take—and in the midst of my fears of “getting it wrong” and “screwing up God’s plan” for my life, He spoke in a rather unexpected way.
Dating doesn’t have to be a foggy experience. Instead, dating should be a season of clarity—to clarify whether you and your partner are ready to move on to marriage together.
Here are seven areas to help us make the most of our dating season and gauge our readiness for marriage:
My years of being single (and not by choice) were difficult for me. From my teenage to young adult years, I was sure something was ‘wrong’ with me, that’s why I was not ‘dateable’.
But now that I’ve entered into a romantic relationship for the first time, I’m glad I took time to seriously reflect on these soul-searching questions.
YMI (which stands for Why Am I?), is a platform for Christian young people all over the world to ask questions about life and discover their true purpose. We are a community with different talents but the same desire to make sense of God’s life-changing word in our everyday lives.
YMI is a part of Our Daily Bread Ministries.
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible,
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