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?
Mar 27, 2019 | Community , confidently , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
She tentatively steps into her own.
She wades into her space,
seeking to understand that
it is actually hers,
unsure that she even has
enough within her to fill the space.
Her eyes flit across the blank,
white walls and cavernous space and
her heart starts stuttering a bit.
“I don’t possess what this space needs.
I don’t know how to
put this all together
or how to juggle all of the pieces.”
Her uncertainty and fear
threaten to derail
her plans to move in,
to take up her space –
she edges towards the exit.
Perhaps you’ve been there –
on the edge of the unknown
trying to determine if
the purpose that calls to you
is enough to make you brave –
maybe you’ve made the leap.
You remember that look –
the one where you look fear
in the eye and just keep going.
When you see someone on the edge,
doubting herself,
her calling,
her passion, purpose
and all her possibilities;
doubting whether she
can or should step into
the space she’s been given –
meet her there.
Help her take the next step.
Remind her of truth.
Help her determine what it
looks like to fill up her space.
Lend her your resources.
Tell her how you did it.
Collaborate with her,
encourage her,
pray for her,
send her chocolate,
and remind her how brave she is.
And if you’re on
the edge right now
doubting yourself –
Permission Granted, brave girl,
Let’s take the next steps together.
You’re not alone.
Is there someone who could use some encouragement from you? What is one way that you could walk beside her as she steps into the space she’s been given. Are you tempted to back away from possibility, purpose, and passion? What is the obstacle you are facing? Take one step towards your purpose. And don’t be afraid to reach out for support, for help, for chocolate. #PermissionGranted
Jan 8, 2019 | confidently , Do The Hard Thing , Encouragement |
Goals.
I think they are for other people.
Or just not for me.
Not the big ones, anyway.
I get excited when I cross something
off my list for the day…
I see others accomplishing
big audacious things
And I think to myself…
“I wish that was me.”
Or
“Why do they get to do that cool thing?”
And then I get jealous that
someone else is doing what I want to do
and then also at the same time
I get mad at myself for not
stepping up and doing
what is possible.
It is a little convoluted.
My emotions, doubts and assumptions
end up all tangled together
and tied up in knots.
This keeps me bound to where I am –
where I will always be.
So I am calling myself out.
Big goals are for me, too.
They aren’t only for everyone else.
Others pursue their goals
scared and unsure.
They are uncertain of how
it is all going to go.
The final result isn’t
guaranteed and they still move forward.
We can do hard, scary things.
Do you doubt that?
Are you waiting for approval?
Waiting for the right moment?
I’ve decided it is now.
I will move forward scared.
I will move forward though I am uncertain.
I will move even though success isn’t guaranteed.
Maybe this is you, too.
Stuck
watching others meet their goals
and wishing it was you.
You can move forward scared.
You can move forward though you are uncertain.
You can move even though success isn’t guaranteed.
Let’s be audacious, together.
Permission, granted.
Name one of your audacious goals. Go ahead and write it down, say it out loud or tell a trusted friend. Or email me! And then? Start working. Big goals are for you, too.
Oct 18, 2018 | confidently |
Take a walk
in the woods,
on a paved path,
in the desert or
in a tropical paradise.
Notice your surroundings
as you take in fall.
Notice the leaves that have
changed their colors
or notice the cacti
that doesn’t experience
quite as dramatic a change.
Notice the evergreen staying
true to its colors.
Each one wears the colors
it was made to
without question,
without shame,
without comparison.
Take a walk.
Stand in front of a tree
or a cactus or a tall plant.
Stand there and see it.
Appreciate the clean air it
gives back to us.
The way it stands proud
in whatever form it takes.
The way it blooms, drops its
leaves, or stays the same color
all the time –
without explanation or apology.
It grows and changes as it should.
It has a place and a purpose,
with roots and a growth cycle and
veins and fruit and seeds.
It is on purpose for a purpose.
Then.
Take a walk.
Go stand in front of a mirror.
See yourself.
You have a place and a purpose.
Be you
without question,
without shame,
without comparison.
Appreciate the way
you bring joy to the world.
See the way you accent your home
with grace and colorful words.
You are worthy just as you are.
Disheveled or all put together,
wherever you are, as you are –
worthy .
Understand that you have seasons.
Realize that you have roots, a growth cycle,
veins and fruit and seeds.
You won’t be blooming
at every moment.
You might not feel like
you’ve produced a bunch of fruit.
You may feel as though you are being
buffeted by strong winds.
Don’t forget your roots.
Stand confidently.
You are on purpose,
for a purpose.
