What Permission are You Giving to Others?

So, I just spent several days in Indianapolis, IN for the Scentsy Family Reunion 2013. We had several speakers and they all spoke to me. The lessons that I learned will not only help in my Scentsy business, but will help in so many aspects of my life. So, on that note, I would like to share with you something that's been permeating through my heart and soul ever since I left Indiana.

We'll say this is a follow-up to the post I wrote about Self Image (see it here if you missed it).

Speaker, Brené Brown, spoke on vulnerability. (Learn more about this amazing speaker here) One thing she said has been resonating with me ever since. She said (and I'm sorry I can't quite it verbatim) that unless someone is in the arena, fighting their fears of vulnerability, with you, they don't have permission to criticize, examine or place judgment on your own journey. In other words, don't give them permission to pass judgement or criticism on you. So, that seems pretty cut and dry. However, I had to figure out how to make that jump into practical application. 

It's not just about giving or not giving permission to pass judgement on your life. It's about what permissions you're giving those in and around your life. If you have a public Facebook page, I guarantee you've experienced the negativity from those around your life. If it gets you down, hurts your feelings or has a negative effect on your life, unfortunately I have to be blunt here, you are giving them permission to hurt you. You're giving them permission to have an affect on your life.

Now, we can easily understand the aspect of negativity and how we allow others that power over us. However, it's harder (at least for me) to see it from the flip side, the positive side. What permissions are giving people to bring positive influence into your life?

I have a hard time accepting a compliment, that means I'm not giving them permission to others to compliment me. Do I give others permissions to compliment or affirm me in any way? I am down on myself, I don't see anything good in myself, so I don't accept that others can see those things in me. I know I'm working very hard on my working out and eating right, but I cannot accept that my work shows. I don't give myself permission to feel any pride in my work so I cannot allow others to express any pride in my doings. It's not just about my working out and eating right, it's about every single aspect of my life.

So, what permissions are you giving those around you? Start giving permission to yourself to feel pride in your accomplishments and living out the life that God has blessed you with. God has given you gifts, don't be ashamed to use them, express them and live them! And then start giving permission to those in and around your life to express their love, adoration, pride and affirmations. When you start granting permission for the positive things; the corrections, lessons, exhortations or criticisms are so much easier to accept because you know they love you and fill your life with more positive influences than negative.

It's your choice, you have the power to start granting permissions today!

So I leave you with the question: What permissions are you giving to others?

God Bless,
Melissa