Fr. T.O. Sebastian
[dropcap]Y[/dropcap]our answer could be “yes” or “no”. But there are situations when you find difficult to - say “yes’” or “no”; if anyone requests you for a favour, if you oblige, it is easy and pleasing to you to say “yes”, If you are happy to do that favour and you can easily oblige your friend, both the parties will be satisfied and your friendship further strengthened.But there are occasions where you cannot easily say “yes”. In theft case for fear of losing your friendship. You force out “yes” from you. You say this “yes” in order to avoid an embarrassing situation now. You hardly know the trouble you are going to face tomorrow for your “yes” today. John. A friend of mine, when he went over to Chennai his native place was approached by one of his childhood friends and expressed his desire to come to Nagaland for a few days’ visit. My friend immediately welcomed the idea and invited him to Dimapur at the earliest. He requested him to come anytime and enjoy the place and the stay.
John came back to Dimapur and hardly a month passed when on a fine day his friend with his wife and 3 children landed up in Dimapur. John warmly welcomed his friend from Chennai and did his best to make their stay a pleasant one. John had to put up with lot of inconvenience in order to accommodate them in the small flat they had. Besides John’s daughter was preparing that month for her matriculation examinations. She needed all the time for herself to study without any disturbance. Within three days John and his family began to regret for the invitation, they extended. With five more inmates in a small flat, everything became uneasy and uncomfortable. Besides these, the guests wanted to be .taken around for sight-seeing every day. Further they expected John to pay for every purchase they made for themselves and for their friends at home. The guests were not in a hurry to return home. Finally John had to tell them that it is better that they get back home.
There was another lady in the town living with her family. One day a man came to her, house and requested her for a room to stay as he was new to the town and the man belonged to her own village in South India. She agreed to talk to her husband when he comes and see if she could help him. After consultation with her family she allowed the man to stay in one of her rooms. For his food he had arranged in a nearby hotel. But this arrangement proved unsatisfactory to him and therefore he requested the lady of the house to hav’e food as a paying guest. The request too was considered. It did not take very long before the two parties got estranged. The man began to come for his meals at any time. Then he was demanding better food and the request grew more and more as the days passed. Finally the house owner had to vacate the guest and regain his family peace and tranquility.
There are some characters that give assurance to everyone but finally they do not do what they promise to do. There are those who never go out of their way to help someone in need. Their’s is always a “no”.
There are those who are ever generous and their’s is always a “yes”. These are people who cannot say “no”. They do not calculate the implications of their “yes”. They often suffer without their wanting it or without being prepared for it. Sometimes a “no” can save you from unwanted sufferings and inconveniences, Say “yes” to others when ever you can afford. Learn to say “no” when it is necessary and your peace will not be upset.
