May 23, 2019 | Be you , Expectations |
Expectations.
They are good
and they are bad.
They make me move
and they paralyze me.
They create structure
and they undo me.
They provide order
and they inhibit spontaneity.
I need them
and I abhor them.
Some are necessary because,
well, I am an adult with responsibilities.
The others?
Here’s what I am thinking:
If the expectation isn’t life-giving,
then its got to go.
Whether it is an expectation
I put on myself or
one someone else
tries to lay on me –
If it doesn’t push me
towards life –
towards growth –
then I’ve got to let it go.
This is a decision
I have to make –
that each of us has
permission to make.
Why hold on to something
that leads me to
decay?
If I hold an expectation
in my hands and I feel
rotten
and say terrible things
to myself, about myself –
then the expectation is
not mine to hold.
Perhaps it belongs
to someone else
and they can decide
whether or not
it’s one they want
to carry.
#PermissionGranted
Name an expectation that you need to step into.
Name an expectation that you need to let go of.
Apr 24, 2019 | Be you , Becoming , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
Be who you are,
right where you are.
Sure.
Just be me.
Its so much harder
then it seems it should be –
or than people
make it out to be.
No one else can be me,
true,
but there is work required
for me, to be me.
I have to excavate
out from under the
expectations that have
been heaped on top of me,
I have to pursue truth
and disempower lies.
I have to give grace,
and at the same time,
challenge what
I’ve always believed.
And then,
I have to take
steps forward into
my purpose,
possibilities,
and passion.
I must embrace my quirks,
eradicate misguided habits,
and pursue the essence
of who I am.
Who I’ve always been.
This takes work,
daily work,
and years of work.
Be who you are,
right where you are
is not something we
fall into,
it’s not a simple accomplishment.
Instead, I believe it is
a daily invitation
to pursue what we
are made for.
#PermissionGranted
What are some ways that you can pursue knowing yourself better?
Get to know the heart of God – he made you!
Take a personality quiz like Clifton Strengths.
Ask some friends about what they see in you.
Sit in who you are. What do you love? What would you like to make better?
Apr 3, 2019 | Be you , Community , confidently |
I overheard your comments to your friend
about the woman across the room.
She, the woman you are
judging,
critiquing,
debasing,
wasn’t doing anything wrong.
She said nothing wrong.
She is just living her life,
taking up her space
and your insecurity got in the way.
Oh, pardon me,
I don’t mean to offend.
Well, actually, I’m okay if I do.
Everyone has permission
to take up their space
and just because you
aren’t thrilled with her choices,
her outfit,
her boisterous personality
doesn’t mean that you can
take space from her.
Please refrain from expressing
your insecurity this way.
PermissionGranted is for everyone.
Please recognize that if
someone rubs you the wrong way,
has a personality that you
struggle to appreciate,
wears clothing that you would
not or has the
audacity to choose
to pursue her
passion,
possibilities,
and purpose…
she is simply giving herself
permission to do so,
just as you are,
in your own way,
pursing PermissionGranted.
There’s space for all of us.
All of our creativity,
ambitions,
styles,
shapes,
languages,
personalities,
cultures.
There’s enough room for us all.
So each of us have
a choice to make:
take up our space –
without apology, or
spend energy making
ourselves small by
attempting to infringe
on another’s space.
It is kind of a
easy choice,
don’t you think?
Jan 30, 2019 | Be you , Do The Hard Thing |
Who you are.
Who you want to be.
Where you are
Where you want to be.
There’s some
gaps here for me –
and for you.
It’s just not
something we talk
about…ever.
See, each of us are a
work-in-progress.
There’s not one of us
who has arrived
and that fact should not
make us feel less than.
It should not lead us
to question our
worth or talent.
We all have gaps and
we should not apologize
for their existence.
Gaps are opportunities
for growth…
which makes them
a good thing.
The gaps are supposed
to exist.
If there was no space
between
who we are now and
who we want to be
there would be no
motivation to grow.
We mess up
when we
ignore the gaps.
But ignoring them doesn’t
make them go away,
it just makes it
harder to bridge them.
I can attest to that.
I feel the dissonance
in my bones when I
try to ignore the gaps.
It makes me avoid the
edges and I
get nervous
about situations
that reveal
my gaps to others.
Momentum begins
when I walk to the
edge of a gap
and name it.
This is where growth begins.
Let’s be brave
and walk to our
edges together.
See a gap. Name an edge. No one is listening.
How can you bridge the gap? What tools do you need? What resources? Take one step today to close the gap! Email me or comment to let me know you took a step. Let’s walk to the edges together and support each other as we close a gap. Permission Granted.