Giving Ourselves Permission

Today was the first meeting of the Tyee Sisterhood of the Traveling Lunches! It was really wonderful to meet the Sisters in each lunch and hear all of the great things they have to say. Today we talked about giving ourselves permission. Sometimes, as girls, we feel as if we have to act in a certain way, and be a certain type of person, in order to fit some mold that society has created for us. So we talked about ways of breaking that mold and being the person that we want to be.

Today Sisters gave themselves permission to:

• Have fun
• Focus on the now, instead of the future
• Be angry
• Be loved
• Feed good about our bodies
• To not worry about others' expectations of us
• To be imperfect

One sister during 2nd lunch said that in our day to day lives we have a little freedom to do what we want, but sometimes we need to have a little more. I agree that it's important to give ourselves permission to put some unimportant things on hold for a little while and focus on what we want to do. Another sister during 3rd lunch said that when it comes down giving ourselves permission to being who we are (quirks and all!) that those who don't matter will mind, and those that don't mind are the ones that truly matter.

What do you guys think of that? Is it only with our true friends that we can be ourselves around? What would it be like if we gave ourselves permission to truly be ourselves all the time? Think about this sisters, and leave a comment about any of the above questions, or to mention something you would like to give yourself permission to do. When commenting please be sure to check "anonymous" before posting.

On a side note, there is a famous quote that I like that says, "Who is my Sister? She is the one who sees the good in me." The Tyee Sisterhood is here to see the good in each other, and to share, affirm and relate to each others' experiences. And we want you to know that you are a part of something strong and special: The Tyee Sisterhood. So pass the word on to others, and try to "collect" more sisters for the upcoming weeks.