We’re just coming off of Labour Day long weekend, and as people get ready and prepare to go back to school, go back to work, say goodbye to Summer and essentially get back into the swing of things, I started thinking about permissions.
I didn’t take a lot of vacation this Summer, and I’m not going back to school, but there is certainly an energy in the air. An almost frantic energy where I found myself feeling like I wasn’t doing ‘enough’ weekend. This feeling creeps in every so often, though recently I’ve been better at telling it to take a hike.
What I did do this long weekend was sleep in, go to the movies, take naps (2 of them), go to a farmer’s market and cook at home. All things that make me feel happy, content and at peace. But I couldn’t seem to shake the thought, the feeling that I wasn’t accomplishing enough – I have to pack my lunches, I need to vacuum and wash my floors, the laundry didn’t get done, and my emails are piling up. And so on.
I got home from some errands this afternoon and found myself wanting a nap. I’m talking eyelids drooping, dreaming at the idea of my bed for just 20 minutes sort of thing; but I kept thinking how much of a waste of time that would be – on the day I have to get so much done!
So I texted my boyfriend telling him how much I wanted a nap but “oh well” and hoped he’d had a good day. That’s when he texted me back saying “do it babe, you were up early” – and those couple of words were just the permission I needed to allow myself to hop into bed and take the nap my body so clearly wanted/needed. I needed permission to let my guard down, permission to let myself rest. And it was an amazing nap (all the heart eyes).
This is where I got to thinking…after my well deserved nap of course…Why do we need permission from other people to listen to ourselves? Why do we so easily trust other people over what we already know for ourselves? I could have easily said those same words to myself, closed my eyes for a few minutes and saved myself the back and forth. This may seem like a small example, but this happens so often. When I don’t feel like going to the gym, when I want fries instead of salad, when I really really want that new jacket. There are countless instances where we either deny ourselves or allow ourselves something because someone else said so – but what if we just trusted ourselves? Gave ourselves our own permission?
In short, let’s trust ourselves to know when it is time to slow down, and when it is time to rev up. Let’s know ourselves enough to feel content with how we spend our time and not make ourselves feel guilty. We already know deep down and have the right to say yes or no, to give ourselves permission and not have to wait on someone else to say so.
So as you head into the September, don’t forget to listen to yourself first, you already know everything you need to.
Don’t lose those vacation vibes, and keep on doing you.
Photo Credit
Photo from Flickr – some rights reserved
First published at Gratitude Makes Perfect
Contributing Author Bio
Briana James
Briana is an inquisitive human, a self-proclaimed ‘seeker’ who derives huge enjoyment from spending time with the people she loves, documenting life’s moments with random photos and giving in to her obsession with natural living. She loves to blog about her self-discovery as she aims for a life well lived, meandering along with positivity and ‘good, clean vibes.’
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