Permission

I have lived a (long) life of feeling that I had to meet everyone else's expectations. I don't know why, but I always felt that I could not do what I wanted to do if it interfered with anyone else's needs/wants/desires or inconvenienced anyone in any way. I don't consciously remember being taught that; maybe it was just some sort of subliminal message. Maybe I had a screw loose at birth; I just don't know. All I do know is that for all of my life (so far) I have felt the need to please everyone. This was an impossible task, true, but one which I kept trying to accomplish.

Yesterday I gave myself permission to stop trying to be all things to all people. I gave myself permission to fail, if necessary (dancing, for instance). I don't have to know how to do everything or have all the answers. I don't have to be perfect (or even close) in my punctuation in my blog. I don't have to look like a model, swim like a fish, or find a cure for cancer or diabetes. I don't have to be a Hemingway, Picasso, or Ginger Rogers. I don't need the approbation of every single person in the world. It is such a liberating feeling! I am free to say "No," "I can't," and "I won't."

I hope this doesn't offend anyone.