7 Gentle Permission Slips to Help You Reset, Let Go and Thrive
These permission slips will help you give yourself more ease and grace. If you tend to get busier during the last few weeks of the year, you are not alone. It’s generally a fuller time. Even though it can be full of things you really enjoy, even good stuff can turn into overwhelm when there is too much of it.
At the end of every chapter of my new book, Gentle, Rest More, Stress Less and Live the Life You Actually Want, I share a permission slip with you. It’s extra encouragement to remember how much agency you have and how you can make decisions that are best for you even if they don’t feel like the easiest thing to do. Or, if those decisions aren’t pleasing to others. Give yourself permission to change the intensity of each permission slip. Change the words so they speak directly to your heart.
If you want to create more time and space for yourself, let go of the things that hold you back, reset and thrive in the last few weeks of the year, give yourself these permission slips. Write them down or use as wallpaper on your phone for a daily reminder of the words you need the most.
7 Gentle Permission Slips
It may seem like a small thing but a permission slip may just be the words that support you to take the next tiny step. A permission slip can invite you to start living your truth. It can be the gentle words that you need to reset and begin to thrive in your life. Take the permission slips you need and pass them on to the people you love.
1. The first permission slip is … I will remove the things that remove me from my life.
The following things removed me from my life, so I removed them …
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– Clutter
– Debt
– Drama
– Busyness
– Alcohol
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Letting go of things is a process, of course. Some of those things we’ve carried for so long that we forget how glorious the lightness is that comes from carrying less. As I release things, I sleep better, laugh more and open my heart back up for more of what’s waiting for me in the world. It’s a relief to release the things I’ve been dragging along, or maybe they were dragging me. What can you remove that removes you from your life?
2. When I make a an unconventional choice or a hard decision, I don’t have to explain myself to everyone.
It’s ok to let some people misunderstand you. This is real self care! Alica Lockhard said, “Life became a lot simpler when I decided just to let some people misunderstand me.” Proving and explaining why we are the way we are, why we like what we like, choose what we choose and believe what we believe is overrated and stressful. Here’s your permission slip to remind you that it’s not your job to make sure everyone understands you.
3. I can resist the urge to measure the quality of my day by the quantity of my accomplishments.
When who you are is what you do, it’s never enough. If your to-do list is taunting you or you are beating yourself up for not getting enough done, make a new list. Make a list of what made you smile today, of who you made smile, and a list of what tiny joys and simple pleasures you are looking forward to experiencing tomorrow.
4. I am allowed to say “no” even when I’m not busy.
This is seriously life changing. You are the only one who can protect your time and energy. Give yourself a permission slip to do so. I don’t say “no” because I’m so busy, I say “no” because I don’t want to be so busy. Just because you have time or availability for something doesn’t mean you are obligated to say yes. Don’t create space so you can do more things (especially things you have no interest in). Create space for more life, for more being you. This is how you begin to thrive in your life.
5. If things feel hard, or I don’t feel well, I do not have to push through. I give myself permission to ease through instead.
We don’t have to effort through everything. We can ease through and rest through. We might not get through faster but we will get through healthier and happier.
We are hard enough on ourselves and somehow become even tougher when going through something challenging like a job change, grief, a breakup or breakdown or not feeling well. Somewhere we started believing that pushing through was our only choice. It’s not.
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I used to think that I was strong for pushing through. I thought I was good at it and that by doing it over and over again, I was getting stronger. Actually, the opposite was happening. I was wearing myself down, exhausting my body and my mind. Finally, I couldn’t push through anymore. When I started resting through instead, I realized I had it all wrong. I didn’t have to rush my healing, hide my pain or find an immediate solution. Next time (or right now), be gentle instead. Trade pushing, forcing and pretending for resting, relaxing and resetting.
6. I can trust myself to let go of something when it’s time to let go.
Whether you want to let go of stuff and clutter, a relationship, a job, an old goal or idea, thought or belief, give yourself permission to know when it’s time. We convince ourselves that letting go of things is hard, so we hold on. This permission slip reminds us that holding on is harder. We have to hold on every day, questioning our decisions and keeping things in our lives that weigh us down and distract us from what we care about now. Of course, some things feel easier to release than others so be gentle with yourself and trust your heart. She knows things.
7. The last gentle permission slip is … When I don’t have time for what matters, I can stop doing things that don’t.
This isn’t a punishment, it’s an invitation. Each day, when you start doing the things, notice. What matters? What doesn’t? What do you care about? How do you want to spend your time? What can you release (even temporarily) to make more time for what matters the most? The answers to these questions may change with the seasons of your life, or even day to day. Be gentle with yourself as you ask and listen.
Get more gentle permission slips and an invitation to join me for a Gentle January when you preorder Gentle, Rest More, Stress Less and Live the Life You Actually Want.