Recently, while scrolling through posts I came across one that said, “The word No is a complete sentence.” Brilliant! This is exactly what I have been teaching my clients in my office. There are two sides to this saying that are useful, one is the person saying it and one is the person hearing it. The person hearing it needs to accept no. This is important in so many aspects of life. If someone is saying NO, whether it be a parent to a child, a partner in a relationship, or a friend in a friendship it has to be respected and upheld. People need to respect boundaries when they hear the word NO. When we say NO we don’t need to justify or explain ourselves. The word NO is truly all we need to say. Many teens sit in my office are afraid to say NO. They don’t want to do something but are afraid of having to justify themselves. I simply tell them you don’t need to justify yourself or explain. The word NO is all that’s needed. As parents let model that behavior. Let’s respect the word NO and when we say it let’s use it as a complete sentence.
