NO THANKS

With the world getting back to normal, instead of joy, people are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and can’t stop saying yes. Now is the best time to take a few steps back and start perfecting the art of decline.

- Syazil Abd Rahim

When you ask someone how they are, chances are you’ll be getting answers such as “busy” and “good, but crazy busy”. The word “busy” has become a badge of honour (an indirect implication of success of sorts) that indicates that we are important and very much in demand, although it’s most likely because of your incapability to say no.

“No, I can’t”, “no, shan’t” or simply “no”: why are they so difficult to utter? Let’s face it, people want to be liked, to be known as amenable and accommodating. Saying yes gives us a sense of going forward, while no may invite a challenge and therefore impede progress. It’s okay to agree and see as one of the ways to show ourselves that we are competent. The thing is, the overuse of yes is bad for our long-term health: burnout, compassion fatigue, and slow-building resentment grumbling away like Johnny Blaze before he turns into the Ghost Rider.

The fact that majority of the states are exiting total lockdown and the world is slowly getting back to normality, saying no has become a lot more difficult. According to hypnotherapist and anxiety expert Chloe Brotheridge in her recent feature for