Respect!
I have been lacking in my personal life is the expectation and insistence of respectful treatment from friends and family!
I have spent years doing without so others can have or be helped out of a jam, now I need to do as much for myself.
Everyone who knows me says the same words and I am thinking “Okay now if I must make changes then it will be like opening a can of worms”. Now I will need to say “NO”! When it treads on my life I must stand up for me. It will now be an easy thing for me to do and I will probably have a few back sliding moments.
I need help and there is no one to help me. My best friend will be both surprised and taken back when I decide to state my own requests or should I say demands. I believe that it will become empowering situations which grow into a different me. Whether people like the changes or it must be accomplished. I will have to think things through carefully before making a decision and even leave a door open for escape if I have to go back. My first three things will be my living arrangements, second my daughter and third my housemate will need to go. I do not expect that it will be easy to tackle but I pray God will give me the strength and the words to handle it in an assertive way yet firmly. It is a scary thought but in each situation I must remember not to waver.
Please pray for me for help in dealing with these three things.
jjldee64 
Many years ago, I was taken aback by a friend who said that she didn’t want to do something that I wanted to do. She had been to EST training and learned how to say “no.” I learned (not so many years ago) how to say no when I didn’t want to do something. Saying no has nothing to do with your friendship; it has to do with compromising yourself. You CAN learn at our age.