Normally, I am a rule follower.  Generally speaking, I accept the rules for what they are and sometimes, require an explanation of them as well.  It helps me to understand them.  I admit — some I will never understand.  And my question asking has been viewed as something personal, when really I just wanted to understand better why things were the way they were.

You never heard, “Rules are meant to be followed” by the ones who were breaking the rules. Rules are there to prevent chaos, keep order, and maintain continuity.  I get that.

Most of the time.

But not this one.

I took this picture this summer of me stepping away from my desk and blowing some bubbles on my back patio.  Why?  Because I could.  No one to tell me I could…no one to tell me I couldn’t.  And although no one prevented me from blowing bubbles on my break at my last job, I wish I had.  There were no posted signs “prohibiting bubble blowing” or designated “bubble blowing areas” anywhere on site.  I doubt anyone would have cared or said anything.

Maybe it was the environment that seemed to stymie any willingness by other employees to go against “policy”, whether written, assumed, or otherwise not noted.  Maybe it was something I didn’t even realize I could do, until I left as I found freedom to call my own shots like never before.  Maybe it was because no one else stood round the corner blowing bubbles so the idea never even crossed our mind.

So, what’s our problem?

There a lot of things that we never get told we can’t do, but somehow it has this “hold” on us and we can never get past it.

I think we naturally err on the side of caution instead of apologizing later.

Okay.

Then what?

Nothing.

We sit and wait.

And we are no further along than we were before.

We need to change the way we think.

 We need to revolt against what holds us back from becoming everything we were born to be.

We need to grant ourselves permission to try the never tried before.

We need to allow growth to come from freedom that comes from being our true selves.

Now, before I get too many panties in a wad, I am not suggesting anarchy.  Or mutiny.  Or anything close to that.

I am encouraging you to think outside of your “normal” box and to wonder what could be instead of accepting what all there is.

I want you to not wait for permission to be granted to you, but to understand that you already have it.

As adults, we forgo our free will by waiting…sometimes forever…for someone else to give us permission.

But something magical happens when someone tells you, “It’s okay…go ahead.”

Freedom comes with permission!

Permission to be every thing you ever wanted to be. Permission to create something new.  Permission to believe.  Permission to want.  Permission to seek.  Permission to love.  Permission to forgive.  Permission to dream.

Permission opens up every thing that once was held back.  It is the secret to changing what we perceive about what happens next and what we do.  The possibilities are endless.

Every moment that changed my life came from permission…usually granted by someone else first.  It came with someone telling me, “You can,” which gave me more confidence; where the concession didn’t need to be granted first.   Just because I was given the “green light” didn’t mean I had it all figured out either.  Like the rest of you, I have to figure it out on my own.  But for years, I had held my own self back.  I was inhibited by my own insecurities.

Growing up, I was never one to “go against the grain.”  In fact, my dad would make comments that my middle name should have been “Goody-Two-Shoes” because I was the epitome of a “good girl.” When I was in high school, the girls’ basketball team went to toilet paper another basketball player’s house and we were locked in by his older brother, behind a 10 foot rod-iron fence.  Not knowing how much trouble we were going to get in, the brother saying things like, “I know you are still here and I will find you” almost made me use the toilet paper for another reason.

Many of us believe that we don’t have the power to give approval to others.  Some of us do not want that responsibility.  Yet, when we believe in others, we open up doors for them that can never be closed.  They are forever changed and see their life in a completely different way.  The best gift we can ever give someone comes in the way we encourage them to be their true selves….to be their BEST selves.

Where do you want to go?

Who do you want to be?

Permission granted!