Give Yourself Permission To Be You
Give yourself permission to love. To love and be loved, even if it failed you before, even if you’re scared.
By Maria Vaught
Give yourself permission to be yourself. To dress as you please, to dye your hair, to get that piercing, to get a or another tattoo.
Give yourself permission to express how you feel. To state what is on your mind, to share your story, to create art from your heart, to post the photo you’ve been staring at for hours, wondering if other people will “like” it or not.
Give yourself permission to believe you are worthy. To never settle for anything less than you deserve, to never accept anything that does not meet your standards in any area of your life.
Give yourself permission to rest. To unplug, to stay home on a Friday night, to curl up under your favorite blanket while reading a book or watching Netflix, to understand that productivity is and never was the reason you are a valuable being.
Give yourself permission to be curious. To travel the world, to go on road trips, to take mini vacations, to explore local museums and landmarks, to ask questions, to talk to strangers, to be open-minded to the perceptions of others.
Give yourself permission to indulge. To eat another donut, to drink that delicious Frappuccino, to buy a new book, to register for that workshop you’ve been dying to experience.
Give yourself permission to defy social expectations. To apply for that job, to ask for that raise, to lift heavier weights, to leave that toxic relationship whether it be a romantic or platonic or familial one.
Give yourself permission to heal at your own pace. To sit through the pain, to work through the difficult things, to mend your broken heart, all in a way that makes most sense to you.
Give yourself permission to laugh. To laugh so hard, you don’t need to do a single sit-up ever again, because life can be funny sometimes and there is something freeing about not taking everything too seriously all the time.
Give yourself permission to cry. To let the tears spill, and let everything inside break open, because shedding these tears can sometimes mean shedding layers and layers of pain, heartache, and anger, until you find yourself again beneath it all.
Give yourself permission to love. To love and be loved, even if it failed you before, even if you’re scared, even if you’re unsure how to begin, even if it hurts, because you know love is one of the greatest things in the world.
Your approval is all that you need. You have the power within to give yourself the permission to do what your heart desires, what makes you happy, what makes you feel fulfilled, what makes you feel unstoppable, what makes you feel uncomfortable but always better.