If someone said to you, “Go ahead and try it”—would you?

Personally, I need the tap, the gentle shove, the exhortation, and encouragements often, though I can be self-motivated, life often deflates our high-flying hot air balloons. We need to refuel and fan the flames. Yet hundreds of reasons and fears may stop us from doing so.

We need external forces and impetuses. We often need “permissions” to get the ball rolling (again). We need elbow room and freedom to succeed or fail, or a combination of both depending on how the score is kept.

Recently I headed to my favorite hiking trail. For months I had been held back by health and injuries—and then the taunting, fearful questioning of myself, “Can I do what I used to do?”

I purposely gave myself permission to try and also to succeed. Stepping onto trails brings a sense of joy and energy. I’d done this trail a lot of times; but, it had been months.

There is wonderful feeling when we reclaim something we worried we may have lost. Hiking on hills amid the stands of trees, meadows, and rocks jutting from the earth is my place. I can be childlike in joy and faith. The inquisitive, unworried mind of carefree youth. It is as much a place for future hopes and dreams to be pondered as it has been in my past. In nature I am close with God and I know it.

I am so glad I let myself take the time and the risk of failure and sore muscles to climb up to the top, in awe of the thick fog covering the valley floors, resting a moment on the top rocks, I felt freedom brought on by time, space, and giving myself permission to take it.

I ponder the concept of permissions frequently. When I can do so with authenticity, I give out permissions like I am rich with them. I know they beget many, many things, like fresh starts, creativity, businesses, books, ministries, and freedom. Permissions shared give the bolstering we need to get out there and do it, do it again, or to arise when confidence and hope have waned. They lift us from the ashes. Isn’t this God’s heart for us?

Recently a new friend of mine and I spoke on the phone. She spoke words which were profoundly apt, from the heart, and seemed as the heart and mind of God. In the most casual, yet relevant as the moment way, she gave me permission to take joy, and to keep moving forward. I needed her kind and provoking words and tone in which she spoke–it was joy-filled.

Too many things in life can stop us dead in our tracks, like thick, deep mud, smirking and saying, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Once stopped, we oftentimes need a hand to get out of the muck. If we don’t have a truth-telling encourager (because we are having a hard time encouraging ourselves) we can lose hope and our grip and focus on those things we love and are meant to do.

I heard my friend. I took the permissions she extended towards me. God WILL take care of people I care so dearly about. He DOES see what is going on, and, it disturbs Him also. But God wants me to take joy and trust Him for outcomes. He is the giver of permissions and freedoms. I can go play in the forest.

The point I want to make is for YOU!
What are you waiting for?
What do you want to do, or feel?
What if a friend, like me, leaned towards you and whispered, “Try it, you are more capable than you know?”
What if you heard, “Move forward, deliberately choose to take back your life or give yourself permission for a redefined one?”
What if I said, “You have more talent than you perceive?” Or, “What will it hurt to try something new?”
Waiting until everything is in perfect alignment before dreaming, playing, hoping, and moving forward is unnecessary. It will keep a person immobilized.

Fantastic news: your permission slip is ready! Remember, permissions create freedom, and a whole lot more! Will you take the permission slips?

Annette Trucke

Need a hand or a hike? Contact me!