Opting out a few of our ideas

One of us has been listening to Cait Flanders Opting Out Podcast.  She wrote two books one about not spending and the more recent The Adventures of Opting Out.  The podcast is enjoyable as Cait is easy to listen to - no drama. She usually tapes it outside so water, wind and her seeing the occasionally animal or one week a proposal. 

So we thought it would be fun to give our list of "opting out" here it goes....

• Drama - don't need or want.  Maybe on the screen but that is about it.
• Negative people and/or conversation.  Yes we need to debrief and that can get negative.  But you know the people we mean. It is all negative. They are victims and nothing is held accountable for them.
• Events we are not interested in. We say yes because we feel we should. That being alone is not an excuse. It is. If not a special occasions we can say no. Our time and needs are important also.
• Book recommendations and books people give us.  If we are not interested say so and don't take the book. Or if you do, start it and it doesn't catch your attention don't bother finishing it.  Yes you heard that right you don't have to finish a book you are not enjoying.  Yep, it is okay you have permission.  Life is short there are a lot of books read one you want.
• Shopping for the sake of shopping.  One of us is doing Project 333 where we wear 33 items for three months. No shopping. It is to see what we have in our closets and what we really want and wear. It is okay to say no to shopping with friends for the sake of shopping. Meet them for lunch later.
• Not to answer the phone if we are exhausted and know that person is just calling to talk. Nothing major just talk (which is great) but not at our expense.  One of us is taking a no answering the phone in the evenings for a bit - leave a message. One friend said she had a phone phobia.  Seriously. Creating boundaries is okay. You do not have to be at people's demand 24/7. 
• You decided what you want to opt out of.  Maybe it is working full-time. Too much over-time. Too many activities on your or family plate.  Keeping up appearances.  Have a look around and see what you can opt out of.