007 Permission to Heal

Your Wellness, Your Way: A Series on Emotional Freedom

Why I’m Starting with Permission Instead of a Plan

Why Permission Comes First

I have to accept myself. All of myself. There are parts that are beautiful, and there are parts that aren’t so beautiful. It feels strange even to write those words in a world where self-sabotage reigns supreme and effort is often followed by punishment. Like the time I was well on my way down the path to healing, realized it—and turned tail and ran.

It started with a friendship. Not just any friendship—this was THE friendship. The one that felt like it could become something more. Shortly after I met him, I started on the wellness path. I’ll admit, not the best reason to begin, but at the time, it was the reason.

I got to a point where I was feeling better, looking a little better—and he noticed. He invited me to dinner, and I was shaking like a leaf in a tornado from the nervousness of it all. The dinner went beautifully. We connected. I walked into my house with a smile on my face. That smile lasted maybe ten minutes.

Then the fear settled in. “What if he really likes me? What if he actually wants something more?” I told myself, I’m not good enough. I’m too fat. And I opened the refrigerator door. You know what happened next.

This was the moment I realized: healing isn’t just about progress—it’s about giving yourself permission to heal. It’s about beginning a journey of self-trust, even when fear tries to rewrite the story.

What Permission Really Means

So what does giving yourself permission to heal really mean? For me, it started with letting go of the idea that I had to earn my own healing. Earn my own happiness. Earn the belief that I was enough. I didn’t know these things weren’t supposed to be earned—they should be a basic human right. But learning that was one of the hardest lessons of all.

We live in a world that worships perfection, especially when we’re trying to heal—and it’s exhausting. But healing doesn’t require flawlessness. It requires honesty, and the courage to live like a human—an imperfect one.

Permission is the soft soil where emotional freedom begins to grow. It’s the space where we allow ourselves to feel what we feel—not what we’re expected to feel, not what someone else feels, but what’s true for us. No hiding. No standing in the shadows hoping someone will feel for us. Just accepting. Breathing with it. Letting it happen without guilt, shame, or any of the heavy emotions we’ve been taught to carry.

My Turning Point

That night at home—after the third trip to the refrigerator—I realized just how deeply I was hurting. Maybe that was the turning point. The moment I saw that I didn’t need to be afraid of happiness, of success, of living the life I’d always wanted. I could begin to trust myself enough to believe that it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. Everyone else was out living their lives, not giving a second thought to my feelings, my victories, or my losses.

So why was I letting imaginary perceptions rule my reality?

Why was I handing over my choices to voices that didn’t even exist?

This is my life.

These are my choices.

I can choose emotional freedom.

I am giving myself permission to heal.

The Power of Starting with Permission

It’s not easy—giving yourself permission. But it’s freeing. Just letting go. Letting it all go.

One of my favorite sayings from my food safety days—when I had to stand my ground while everyone pushed back—was water off a duck’s back. That’s my new approach in my personal life. Water off a duck’s back.

This is what taking my power back looks like. It’s whispering to myself that I will not allow anyone on this earth to steal my joy, my happiness, or my belief that I am worthy. That I am strong. That I am capable of living the life of my dreams.

Did giving myself permission happen overnight? No.

It took time.

It took effort.

It took countless hours of self-affirmation and quiet reflection to prove to myself that it was okay—That I could trust myself to begin again.

An Invitation for You, the Reader

Healing is personal. It doesn’t follow a checklist or a timeline. But it does respond to honesty—and to the quiet courage of asking yourself what you truly need. So if you’re reading this and wondering where to begin, here are a few gentle invitations:

• What have you been waiting for permission to do, feel, or release?

• Where have rules replaced trust in your wellness journey?

• What would change if you started with compassion instead of control?

You don’t need to answer perfectly. You don’t need to answer today. Just let the questions sit with you. Let them whisper.

This is not the whole story. Permission is just the beginning. There will be days when healing feels distant, when old patterns resurface, and when self-trust wavers. That’s okay. You’re allowed to start again. You’re allowed to be human. You’re allowed to heal in your own way. After all, this is where healing begins-with a whisper, not a command.

Closing Reflection

This is the first post in Your Wellness, Your Way: A Series on Emotional Freedom. It begins not with a plan, but with permission. Not with perfection, but with self-trust.