You Have My Permission

We were speaking at my writing group last night about whether the time was right to begin sending work "out" to a literary journal, to send a query or to write a book.

Go ahead and substitute whatever you are thinking about that matters to you that is giving you anxiety and that you are waiting for something external to you to fix, approve, compliment, orchestrate or accept.

Someone else pointed out that you can get advice and feedback from others who are knowledgeable to receive an informed opinion and that makes sense. But, they will not ultimately know when you are ready to do anything better than you will know that yourself. There is no Pick-Up Here window with a wizard handing out permission slips.

Does it make sense to wait for others to say, Yes, grasshopper, you are now ready.  Does it make sense to give them your power?

Nobody is going to give you permission. It has taken me a long time to realize this. I still often forget.

 If you want to do something then you can just choose to do it.  You have the freedom to make that choice regardless of how many resistances you put forth. You may find yourself saying things that aren't absolutely relevant.

I have no money. I have too much work. I'm afraid.  I want to look important. I don't want to look stupid. If I do that I might become a stranger to myself. If I accept that I may have to change. I may lose friends. I may have to step out of my comfort zone.

What are you not giving yourself permission to do or be? Is it conscious? Are you incapable of standing alone and recognizing your own value without the ego strokes you receive from your family, your friends, your employer, you husband, your wife? Would you think you still mattered if all that was stripped away?

Do you only have a relationship with yourself as seen through others' eyes or are you capable of standing alone and accepting the truth about who you are inside?

Why are you waiting for permission from someone or some thing external to act upon what your internal self already knows?

What are you, probably unconsciously, waiting for someone else to give you permission to be or do?