The Power of Permission
Do you give yourself permission to express yourself fully?
I was going through a series of situations where I was feeling my positive energy being challenged. At first, I thought to myself…let’s just let it go. Life is so precious, I want to focus my energy on the beauty and positivity of life.
Then as I was dreaming, I thought to myself, if I want to express myself, I should be able to. After all, isn’t this country all about freedom of speech? Who am I not to share my gifts of voicing my unique perspectives with the world? Who am I not to shine and be the change that I want to see? So I thought it through and typed up the following questions that really made me think about how I could become a better person and most importantly, how I could inspire others to do the same.
I wanted to give myself permission to express myself fully. Even if it doesn’t make everyone happy and even if people shout, scream and get mad at me, I need to express myself or else it will fester in my head creating mental chaos in my head.
Even if I am just voicing my opinions and no one agrees, at least I know that I have voiced my opinions for myself and the pressure feels like it’s disappeared. I know that I will feel more at peace knowing that I’ve said what I wanted to say. Even if I don’t get the result that I’m immediately looking for.
So I wrote up a list of the following questions, based on the book: Happiness is…500 Things to Be Happy About.
Enjoy a few selected quotes below - photo credits - Pinterest (links no longer working)
happiness is…
happiness is…
1. What if we changed the way that we see things? Instead of looking for someone or something to blame for all the things that are seemingly going wrong, can we notice the GOOD? If not, dig a little deeper and feel gratitude. Can we learn to love ourselves first?
2. What if the experiences that we are going through are here to make us better? What if we do the mental work to make the physical work that much easier? Mind over matter.
3. Can we let go of the things that are not perfect? Can we keep getting better and better every day without placing judgment on ourselves (most important) and others?
4. What if feelings of discomfort are here to make us grow? Change is often challenging and we reject it at the first sight of discomfort. However, growth doesn’t need to be perfect, we just have to keep on going.
5. Can we all slow down and take 3 deep breaths? It’s tricky to gain perspective when there is so much going on. Breathing and staying present definitely helps.
6. Can we consciously look for the positivity and beauty that surrounds us? Instead of looking at life through fear, worry and anxiety, can we change our focus to see the good in the world?
7. Can we look within ourselves to see how we can be better instead of blaming everyone and everything else? Can we focus on the gifts and gratitude in every situation and in every person?
8. What if we truly believed in ourselves and trust that everything will work out? What if we believe and trust in unconditional love? How would that change the way that we feel?
A wonderful employee at Home Depot mentioned the concept of Yin and Yang to me and it made me think about how opposing forces can actually be beneficial. From Wikipedia – how opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate with one another.
