My Gratuitous Use Of The N Word

My bride is baffled at how eagerly I throw the word around.

I love the 'N' word. I use it daily. Often hourly.

What?

Hold on now.

My apologies. Not THAT word.

I mean the word "No."

No is the most important word you can learn and use.

Right now you're reading this and, if you think about it, there are many other things you could be doing? You've said "yes" to reading this and "no" to doing everything else. At least for a few minutes.

There's a world of other things you could be doing. However, reading this is critical so stay here and then go on.

How come you don't say "no" more often? There are so many things out there that waste your time?

How many times have you done something because a friend asked you and you couldn't say "no?"

How many hours have you wasted online? You get lost in the sea of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, games, random searches, and other mindless online escapes?

What about useless newspapers and magazines you read to "stay on top of the news?"

How much money have you lost because you didn't say "no" to a customer request, an employee request, or other wasted business event?

You toss money and time into the abyss because you don't want to risk upsetting someone.

The squandering of time is what really scares me. The Talmud, which is the book of Jewish law, says that wasting someone's time is stealing. And, it's the worst form of stealing because you can never repay them for their loss.

Nothing is more true. The most valuable thing you have is time. Take a brief walk through a cemetery. You'll quickly realize there are many people who died a lot younger than you.

How often do you steal time from yourself?

Instead of saying "no" Most people lie.

You say to your friends how you can't attend their party because you have another event that night. Or, you call last minute and say that you or your kid is sick.

You give your friends any excuse so you don't risk upsetting them. If they find out you lied, which would be worse?

The more dreadful lie is the lie you tell yourself.

Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social media crap sites are important so you can keep up with your friends.

You have to read every political, sports, and news article each day so you know what's going on in the world.

You have to research why farts smell bad for a customer or else you might lose their business.

Really?

You have to do these things?

Or what?

The social media sites are usually time-suck black holes of silly videos and useless mind-numbing garbage.

I dare you to stop reading all news for a month. You'll be a lot happier because you won't be attacked with so much negativity and threats of fear.

It's okay to tell a customer you don't have time for that and if they buy from you today you can guarantee you won't waste their time.

Start saying "no" more often.

Regularly step back and question yourself on this. Or else you'll end up in a stuck under a sweaty armpit in a headlock of things you don't really want to be doing.

And I promise, your friends will be okay if you say, "No thanks, I just want to stay home and take care of some other things." If they're not, they're not your friends.

When it comes to addictive time-suck events, remember Nancy Reagan urging you to, "Just say 'No.'"