24 things to give yourself permission to do

Posted on April 15, 2009 12:00:00am, by Gerrianne Clare

It is amazing how many times I don’t give myself permission to do things because of fear of what others may think or expect of me.  The thought often comes to mind – what would my mother/husband/kids or friends think about my behavior?  After all, we all want to belong and often our  fear of being kicked out of our tribe keeps us from letting loose and giving ourselves permission to do exactly what we want to do and be how we want to be.

Here is my list of 24 things (there are probably hundreds more but these 24 came to me easily)

  1. Sleep in until I feel like getting up
  2. Stay in my housecoat until I feel like getting dressed
  3. Eat whatever I feel like for breakfast -
  4. Have a nap in the afternoon – just because
  5. Sing to the songs on the radio out loud and in my living room (not just in the shower)
  6. Yell at God for making life tough
  7. Thanking God out loud for everything
  8. Doing the butt wiggle dance whenever and where ever I want because I love to
  9. Eat that piece of chocolate cake because I really want to
  10. Not eat that piece of chocolate cake because I don’t want to (not because the research says eat low glycemic)
  11. Love my body as it is
  12. Make my goal in every encounter to see the lesson and the gift
  13. Look for what is working
  14. Be positive no matter what
  15. Love my life – warts and all
  16. Be mad if that is how I feel
  17. Be sad if that is how I feel
  18. Be happy if that is how I feel
  19. Feel the fear and know I will move through it
  20. Be real
  21. Be honest
  22. Be the change I want to be
  23. Challenge negativity
  24. See the beauty in others  ……..

As I said the list is endless.  What I noticed as I wrote this list is that I do many of these things willingly yet I know that there is that underlying fear of “what will people really think of me if I am truly myself”.  As I have evolved and grown over the years I find it harder and harder not to be myself and can truly feel at peace with who I am. Another thing I noticed was how scary it is for me to challenge the negativity, be positive and see the beauty in others.  That is not the way of the world for the most part yet it is definately how I want to be.

Why not write your own list of  “things you would do if you gave yourself permission to” or phrased a different way “What would I do if I was not afraid”.  I would love your comments as you work through this.  Take care all.

Gerrianne

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