When "Yes" Means "No"

Of the different lessons I've learned in my life, this lesson is one that I had to learn the hard way.  Obviously, it is nicer to learn things through easy means that don't involve some sort of hardship, but learning things the hard way seems to have a greater amount of sticking power.  We seem to remember things better when it hurts.

If you know me, then you probably know I spent five and a half years taking part-time classes to finish my undergrad degree while working two part-tme jobs (one was in a church, which made it hard to call it part-time).  I knew I was over-scheduled and that I had made a choice to be.  At first, it wasn't a big deal to be crazy busy.  However, more good opportunities of how I could spend my time kept coming across my path.

If you know me, then you probably know I love volleyball.  I played at a summer youth conference every year starting in sixth grade and played for my high school all four years.  I played in a year round league multiple times during high school to prepare for my high school seasons.  The opportunity to play volleyball is always a big incentive to make room in my schedule to play.

When I found a volleyball open gym in my area a couple summers ago, I had the time to play.  Every week in the summer for a couple hours on a Thursday night, I would go have tons of fun.  What I quickly learned in the fall when school started again  was that saying "yes" to volleyball meant saying "no" to homework, studying, house work, quality time with my wife, sleeping, mentoring high schoolers, etc.  Those weren't things I was willing to sacrifice.  There weren't enough hours in the week for everything I needed and wanted to accomplish.

Balance is incredibly important in life and one of the only ways I'm ever able to achieve it is when I remember saying "yes" can equal saying "no" to something else.  I have to make sure I say "yes" to the important things and people in my life.  I don't want to say "yes" to something permissible to find out later in the day or week that it wasn't beneficial for me (Paul wrote about this in 1 Corinthians 10:23).

Bottom line?  You might say "yes" to something and it might be totally fine.  Great!  But, be aware that there will be times when saying "yes" means a "no" to something else beneficial, constructive, or really important.