My whole life I have been taken advantage of, because I don't know how to say no. I had a speech problem as a kids (couldn't say my R's and S's) and find it difficult to communicate my thoughts.. in the sense of saying the right words to get my point across. When I am supposed to say "no" I can't find words to say it, and usually stay quiet until the moment has passed. I had a career on stage performing so that I didn't have to speak with people. I was bachelor is in Kinesiology at university .. go figure.. When I'm trying to explain myself, I tend to show either physically or with photos, maps etc to explain what I mean. I have a hard time retaining information through language while speaking to others or learning in school.. I was kinaesthetic learner more so than audio or visual. It takes me time to process the situation and how to react to it verbally.. an example is if someone is about to trip on something on the ground, I would physically move them to avoid the object before speaking "watch out.." I fell like my brain doesn't process fast enough.
I own my own business now, and in negotiations, and situations that require that (struggling to find the words)... immediate reaction, I'm not reacting, and in the end I get screwed over.
It's frustrating, because I come off as stupid when I know how intelligent I am... and what I know, is that really it's the people who are good speakers who don't know that much, but know how to use it to manipulate situations in their favour.
I had a situation when a colleague did something they said didn't do, and when I confronted them about it, they made a potentially true, but I knew it wasn't, story up about why they did it. But after they said it, I froze and couldn't find the exact words to respond. I couldn't confront them at that moment that they were lying to me, even though all I had to say that it is a lie. I said OK. It's even worse when I'm on the phone... I don't know how to train myself to be better and quicker at processing the information and responding. It's been a life long battle since I can remember.
I really think there is a problem with my brain, because its not that I don't want to say "no" I just don't know how to find the words at the right moment.