Do You Need a Permission Slip?

You get to discern your own life.

Do you remember needing a permission slip for things in school? To get out of class, or get aspirin from the nurse, or go on a field trip?

Sometimes I think this childhood practice continues long into our adult years. Here are just a few recent conversations I’ve had, where the idea of permission slips has surfaced:

• With a professional woman who said she felt like she was waiting on someone to give her permission to make a potentially big leap in her work life

• With a busy mom friend who shared that she gave herself permission to let go of the hassle of keeping a separate food waste bin

• With a client who asked me about my own boundaries surrounding digital notifications, and the permission I give myself to not check email on Sundays

Each of these women were discerning very different types of things, big and small, but each wanted permission, and felt freed by having permission to act.  

It really made me think: how many of us have carried over some school day ideas into our adulthood without…