Assertiveness

 

“No, I cannot help you, I am not available then,” but in my mind I am saying, I will not do that again. You stepped upon me once before and left me injured there. I will not be in that place again, although you say you care.

Assertiveness is a skill that I am learning how to use. It gives my heart protection and keeps me from being used. It means that I will say how I feel at the time the event takes place rather than waiting and trying to please, or rather than saving face.

“Do you have a minute? We need to talk,” I said to my colleague and friend. “Just a moment, I’ll be right there,” she said as she rounded the bend. We went into a private room and there discussed the scene that had unfolded just moments before leaving me embarrassed, it seemed.

“You say I did this thing to you, you may feel rightly so,” but in my mind I am saying, your choices you made, you know. I cannot take the credit for making you what you are. The things that you have done before are bringing you this far.

I will stand and hold my ground; I am just as important as you. I need to not cower or run and hide, to myself, I will be true. For I am strong, and I am free, to choose how I want to live. And God, He will be with me. For me, new life He did give.