Your permission slip

It’s ok.

That’s your permission slip for the day. That’s your golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Your tiny piece of paper that says you have permission to do what you need to do to take care of yourself today.

Sometimes it’s ok to take a break. 

It’s ok to break down.

It’s ok.

I can’t think of anything more powerful in terms of permission than those two words. So I’m using them carefully and thoughtfully and with as much meaning as I can pour into them this morning.  

It's ok.

You spend so much of your time taking care of everyone else. People at work, spouses and children and parents at home. Friends and family and people in your church. 

Today I’m giving you the permission slip that says it’s ok to take care of you. 

I see so many fitness posts about rising and grinding, and that’s ok if that’s what works for you. 

But I don’t really want my days to be filled with long arduous tasks that I endure. My dad lost his job in the steel mills when I was a kid and spent the rest of his working days as a corrections officer in a maximum security prison. He did enough enduring of his days for the both of us. 

Life is too short to constantly rise and grind. 

Yes sometimes you have to push yourself through a workout, but the only thing I want to grind in the morning is my coffee beans. 

I would argue that when workouts and life and long runs begin to feel like they are a grind - when work and relationships and life begins to feel that hard, day in and day out, then it might be time to take a break.

Take inventory today, right now. What do you need right now? What do you need today? How will you take care of yourself today? Sure we all probably need more sleep and a vacation and more sunny days like yesterday. We have some degree of control over the sleep, but often very little over vacations and the weather.

What do you have control over?

Maybe you need to take a day off from the gym and walk outside. Maybe you need to get back in to the gym because you know you feel better when you show up. Maybe you need to eat lunch away from your desk. Make yourself a priority.

I don’t know what you need today. But whatever that need might be, here’s your permission slip.

It’s ok. 

Ok?

Good talk. :)