I Give You Permission

Reminder to myself

“Go ahead, call yourself a writer! You’re writing already. Give yourself permission; you deserve it.” A few years ago, words like these opened up my mind to a new reality, a new conception of myself. Nowadays, Writer sounds more interesting than Retired Teacher, anyway. After years of writing long letters, short poems, and scads of articles, I finally accepted the title and have gone on to write in a blog, publish a book, and coauthor others.

Now I am learning to give myself permission to do more, despite my fears and excuses. Last year, after 30-some years of not driving in our big city, I said, “It’s time!” Time to buy a car, time to become gradually confident at maneuvering the challenges of unpredictable drivers and streets. Yes!

Just a few years into widowhood, I’m giving myself permission to go to a concert or museum alone, once in a while. Permission to travel someplace else just for the fun of it. Sure, I miss the company of others, but why miss out on new discoveries just for that reason?

Then, too, “I give you permission to say no.” One more women’s group? One more responsibility? One more translation job? No, thanks. I don’t want my life to be overly full. I get to choose what’s important. Getting stressed out is all too often the result of wrong choices.

I give you permission to learn something new, ignoring that message “Old dogs can’t learn new tricks.” The “old-excuses-me” says it’s not worth it; I won’t be good at it; I won’t put it into practice. But hey, who cares? What can I lose?

I give you permission to not live up to others’ expectations. How I dress, how I spend my money, how I fix up my house (or not)… these and other matters are up to me alone. Well, with a caveat: As a Christ-follower, I do want to honor my boss!

I give you permission not to be a “dignified old lady.” It’s okay to laugh raucously from time to time, wear something scruffy if I want to, play games, whatever.

You’ve done it too! Feel free to share some of your “permission slips to yourself!”