It is often easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.
~Grace Hopper
Recently I’ve noticed that I do a lot of waiting around and don’t always cut a direct path toward completion of the many projects that I have going on in my life. Projects that I have initiated and want to complete. And yet I wait.
Last night I was talking with someone who has become a great friend and advocate and shared this dilemma with her. She so wisely posed the question, are you waiting for someone to give you permission?
I sat there quietly on the phone for a moment, stunned and amazed at the grace and acuity with which she cut through the bullshit and got to the heart of the problem.
Um, yes. I think I have been waiting for someone to give me permission. To give me the nod of approval for all of those pending projects. To approve of my direction. Hell, to give me the stamp of approval for my entire life and the way I’m choosing to live it.
And that is probably not going to happen. There is no committee that’s going to stamp a certificate of approval. Most people don’t give a shit. And if they do, they’re likely to see things through the prism of their own life experience, which likely means no seal of approval, because I’m not doing it their way.
I was going to share a long explanation about how some of this is probably due to me coming out of a long-term marriage and some is societal, but the reasons why don’t really matter. The bottom line is, no one is going to give me permission to live my life the way I want to. And if I keep waiting for someone to do that, I’ll be waiting a helluva long time.
So I’m going to pay more attention to why I’m stalling in some of the areas in my life and I’m going to forge ahead. Without permission.
Do you find yourself waiting for permission to be awesome?