Sign Your Slip

Every time my husband wants to hang out with his homies, he tells them he has to get his "permission slip" signed. I think it's hilarious. For one, he's an adult who can do what he wants, who's married to an awesome wife right? But instead of saying something simple like, "I consider my wife and just want to run it by her that this excursion of ours is not conflicting with any prior plans..." (like a true gentleman), he speaks the crazy mentioned above. LOL!

But with this silly man, God has revealed a life lesson. There are times that we try to fill some big shoes and complete some lofty tasks, like keeping it all together in less than flattering situations or maintaining humility when we want to blow our top. There are times when we want to make sure that everyone around is okay, so we sacrifice ourselves and our emotions to maintain peace for others. We stare adversity and challenges stone cold in the face, while all the while inside, we are tired, hurt, and downtrodden. We are not giving ourselves permission to feel the gambit of emotions that is welling up inside of us because we want to make sure that everyone else is taken care of.

Although this is an awesome trait, one that allows us to lead and be led and draws spirits into ours for exhortation, it can also be very dangerous. Now, I'm not saying go into a fit of rage every time you feel angry. Or cry a river of tears in any location whenever you feel sad. Or laugh uproariously at inopportune moments just because you feel like it.  However, what I am saying is to give yourself permission to simply be and get in touch with your emotions in a way that allows you to still serve as a protector and maintain the strength that others around you have come to expect and even depend on; all the while, giving yourself permission to be true to how you feel and allowing yourself the space and time to deal with it accordingly.

Often, when something bothers or upsets me, I suppress it. I do that for so long that eventually, it all comes pouring out at once and often over something more minor than the previous incidents and offenses that I let slip by without honoring the emotions they birthed. Today, give yourself permission to feel. Everyone else around you is giving themselves permission to be upset with you, to tell you how they feel, to cry on your shoulder, to do whatever they feel. You have to give yourself that same opportunity; maybe not in the same way or even in the same space, but definitely the same chance to release.

If you are a private person, excuse yourself from the situation and deal with how you are feeling. If you are an upfront or confrontational person, state the emotion that you feel when the time is right. You may not deal with it completely right then and there, but you honor the fact that the emotion is present so that you CAN deal with it in your own time and in your own way. Giving yourself permission to not always be the rock and not always be strong is giving yourself the type of human qualities that remind the ones we love that there are times that we too need a strong-tower. There are times that we too have reached our wits end. There are times when we simply need to release the myriad of emotions that lie dormant under smiles and advice and prayer that we provide to so many that we love. Sign your own slip and allow yourself to experience spiritual liberation like you never have.