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Giving Yourself Permission – a Key to Relieving Depression!

Friday, February 26, 2016 14:18

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(Before It's News)

27th February 2016

By Nanice Ellis

Guest writer for Wake Up World

Inside, all of us, are dreams of greatness, but these dreams are, all too often, suppressed, because we fear disapproval or rejection from those around us, and, sadly, many of us become depressed. Could it be that we never follow our dreams, or listen to our hearts, because we are waiting for others to give us permission, and we are too afraid to give it to ourselves?

If you look closely, you will see that withholding permission from yourself, or needing others to first give you permission, keeps you in a small box, and stops you from living the life you came here to live. If you look even closer, you will see that your happiness is dependent on giving yourself permission. If you don’t give yourself permission to speak up, express yourself or set boundaries, the consequence is, all too often, chronic depression.

It is true that most people who are depressed generally live with harsh, self-imposed restrictions, and, simply do not give themselves permission to be who they want to be, or do what they want to do.

Giving yourself permission to live the way you want to live should be the most natural thing in the world, so why is it actually one of the most challenging?

Programmed to Ask Permission

It is fairly easy to see that we are systematically programmed to “ask permission.” Traditionaleducation is a system of disempowerment, where children are programmed to give their power to those in authority, often with painful consequences for doing something without permission, including shame and ridicule that may last a lifetime. From the first day of elementary school, we were taught that permission is required for everything that we do, even for basic personal needs.

When children’s self-worth is attached to their ability to receive permission, they may compromise and sacrifice themselves in order to receive permission from those in authority, further leading to disempowerment. Consider that child sexual abuse may be so prevalent because children are taught that they are powerless; they need permission in order to speak, go to the bathroom and set personal boundaries, so, when an adult does something that seems inappropriate, children don’t know that they have permission to say no, and protect themselves.

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