Yesterday I had to drive out of town for a photo shoot. I love getting on the road. Traveling. My mind runs wild. It’s where I “think” best. And yesterday I started thinking about our human nature to want to be loved by everyone. We do. We want people to love us. And how we always put our desire for others to love us before loving our selves. Saying “yes” to them while saying “no” to ourselves. Kinda seems backwards.
Since specializing my business it’s been much easier to refer the “wrong” clients to someone who fits them better than I do. To clear the air, there aren’t wrong clients. But there are potential clients that are wrong for me. I’m doing what I love. And it’s only fulfilling for me if I’m doing it with people who make me happy. People I connect with. The ideal client. And we’re not all right for each other. And although it’s easier to say we aren’t the right fit and say no, that doesn’t mean I still don’t struggle with it. The struggle is real, people!! 😉  This whole thought process came along as this last week I made the hard decision to say no to a potential client. It wasn’t easy, I even had to get some support from friends that it was going to be ok. And you know what, it was. I referred them elsewhere. And they emailed back thanking me for my time, completely understood and how they looked forward to connecting with one of the people I had referred. Saying no is so hard because of our fear that they won’t love us. But really, ladies…. how many times have we asked a man, as he sat on the couch watching the game, if he would go shopping with us? And then he responded…. No.
As a complete sentence.
Just no.
How many times? And, how many times does that really truly bother us. How many times have we stopped loving them because they said no? … Never. Haha. They don’t even refer us a friend to go with, they just say no. AND IT’S OK!
We strive to find our own balance and happiness in life. Every single one of us. This isn’t just a photographer issue. All of us want to live happily. But here’s the truth…
Yes to balance and happiness can ONLY be achieved by learning to say no.
Say yes to yourself.
A Montana sunset while on the road. It doesn’t suck. Taken on my trusty iPhone 😉
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