Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
It’s an old adage about not taking on more than you can handle. It is said to have originally come from one man offering another a plug of tobacco. Not wanting the recipient to greedily take too much, the giver warned that his friend shouldn’t bite off more than he could chew.
We all find ourselves with a drooling mouthful of tobacco sometimes, but rather than being too greedy, we’ve probably been too generous. And usually it’s our time we’ve been too generous. That’s why the sixteenth lesson I’m learning in 2020 is how to say “no”.
I put that in the present tense because it’s a constant battle.
It’s hard! And I think it’s especially hard for us Southerners because of the whole hospitality thing. We want to help other people and do fun things and take on all the opportunities that are presented to us. It’s human nature.
Plus, we don’t want to be considered rude or ungrateful or inhospitable.
But if you really want to be effective at any of those things, you have to know how to say “no” to the things that you can’t reasonably accomplish or that will be too much of a drain on you or your resources. And that’s something I’m trying to be more conscious of.
Unless you offer me a big old plate of fried chicken. Then I’ll definitely say “yes please” and more than likely bite off way more than I can chew. After all, I don’t want to be rude.
(This year for #BlogLikeCrazy, I’m talking about 30 lessons I’ve learned in 2020. Read the other entries here.)