Say Yes To No: Using The Power Of No To Create The Best In Life, Work, and Love

by Greg Cootsona

Greg Cootsona puts a spiritual spin on the classic business strategy for setting priorities in this valuable guide to finding personal fulfillment in an increasingly frantic world. At age thirty-eight, Cootsona, a physically fit minister busy with his growing congregation and his young family, had a scare with heart trouble. The unexpected and frightening news proved providential. Cootsona realized that he was juggling too many roles, saying yes to too many commitments.

In SAY YES TO NO, Cootsona blends personal experiences and deep reflection to show why learning to say no can transform our lives. He describes the choices he made as he set the priorities in his own life, and encourages readers to look within their hearts and focus on the values and the goals that promise them their greatest rewards. Filled with sound advice and profound insights, SAY YES TO NO provides a path to achieving physical, professional, emotional, and spiritual well-being that will appeal to Christian and mainstream audiences alike.

Genres: Personal Development

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Greg Cootsona (PhD, Graduate Theological Union) is a writer, researcher, and speaker. He directs Science and Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries (or STEAM) at Fuller Theological Seminary, and teaches religious studies and humanities at California State University at Chico. Cootsona studied comparative literature at U. C. Berkeley and theology at Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), the Universities of Tübingen and Heidelberg, and Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union, where he received his PhD. He recently finished eighteen years as associate pastor for adult discipleship at Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Chico and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian in New York City. He has been interviewed by CNN, the BBC, the New York Times, and the Today Show.

Reviews

[Analie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first two parts of this book: Life and Work. They're filled with interesting illustrations from the lives of Michelangelo, Eric Liddell, C.S. Lewis, and others. I especially enjoyed how Cootsona described the concept of "editing your life" to the essentials through practices such as a sabbath rest. However, the final chapters in his Love section felt like an afterthought with random, brief thoughts on parenting and marriage.

[Nopadol Rompho · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are too busy, you should take time to read this book. No time management technique can't help you, if you don't know how to say "No".

[Christina Hibbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many of us, myself included, have trouble saying "No". We feel like "a bad person," like we're "not nice," like it's "wrong". But, I'm here to encourage us all to "Say Yes to No". The ideas in this book helped me understand that saying "No" to one thing is really saying "Yes" to something better. It changed the way I feel about saying "No," and helped me create the best life, loves, and relationships. So, say "yes" to "Say Yes to No!" And say "Yes" to a more fulfilling and abundant life.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supporting some brilliant thought coming out of Chico, CA. A good man shares his wisdom. Applicable to every person despite age or phase of your life.