Give yourself permission to be the awesome you

Life is short. More exactly, the moments when we can operate at our full potential, the moments when we are capable of great achievements because all the conditions are met, those moments are numbered. And, sadly, it’s often after we’ve lost them that we fully realise how much potential we had—and wasted. But it does not have to be that way.

There’s a tendency for the ego to look at all that’s not there, all the things that we miss whereas what we have can be a whole lot. That’s the root of desire, the root of unhappiness too. When we stop seeing the glass half-full and convince ourselves that it’s instead half-empty, we make a terrible disservice to ourselves. Because what we focus on is what colours our perception of everyday’s life. A simple shift in perception can transform our life, but only if we allow ourselves to do it in the first place.

There’s doubt among most of us, and compounded doubt can lead to paralysis by analysis, a state where we’re so unsure that we lose the ability to make decisions, no matter how small they are. We second guess all we do, we have regrets when we realise we didn’t make the best decision—although we did our best back then, because how could we not have? Life becomes unpleasant and a source of frustration. There’s decision fatigue, and the repressed fear that we’ve done something wrong that will surface one day. The lingering anxiety that something may surface out of the blue suddenly and disrupt our life. And, surely, if that’s what we expect of life, it will feel obliged to manifest that reality for us! Until we understand that we can only attract situations that match our vibrations. That is: the high vibes will manifest a more pleasant future than the low vibes. The optimistic will perceive a nicer world than the pessimistic, although the raw facts of life presented to both persons are identical. In that sense, it becomes obvious that we are in charge of our levels of happiness through the stories we tell ourselves.

There’s also habituation from a young age to please others to make it through life. We want to please our parents because our wellbeing is derived from them. We want to please our teachers because at some point we realise that our grades will impact our education and our education will be a differentiator for our career, a career that will determine our lifestyle etc. We become people pleasers and some of us may put their own desires in the background, to be picked up one day into the future. But when?

When our baseline is that we have to please the world first, we are not attending our own needs and deep aspirations. This is a waste of our talents and capacity to change the world around us. It takes a great deal of efforts to overcome a tendency that started in childhood. But it’s achievable through self-awareness and reconnection with the real Self. And profound realisations are around the corner. Sure, the ego will have a hard time facing it, but discomfort is required to have a break through. And then, one day, we see it:

"Oh yes, I must give myself permission to do what I love and want. I should never wait for people to tell me I'm worth or deserving of anything. I must realise how much power I've got. How much freedom I've got. Right here. Right now. See how lucky I am. And sink in gratefulness."

Yes, you are the only one who can give yourself permission to go for it and be amazing, and unlock your true potential. Yes, the power is inside. Look at your life and see how much you’ve already achieved, how much you’ve got today, how much your old self of 5 years ago was eager to get and you’ve accomplished, how many gifts and skills you’ve built over a lifetime, how many reasons to rejoice you can list. And, yes, gratefulness is a powerful practice to shift your perception. It allows us to focus on what’s here, and not what’s missing. Because it’s only from a place of abundance that we can create. Focusing on the missing piece leads only to self-pity and misery. So try embedding gratefulness in your daily routines and notice the change. Finally, give yourself permission to be the awesome you, the you that you were born to be!