Permission

Permission. 

Which is easier for you; to ask permission or to beg forgiveness?

I lean more toward asking permission, but even that is sometimes hard for me. The whole begging for forgiveness leaves me feeling uncomfortable because it signifies that I probably did something wrong. 

The one time, though, that I did risk begging forgiveness was the day I was hired by Frisco ISD. It was late July, and I had just been hired to replace a teacher who was not returning. When I arrived to my classroom I was greeted by an over abundance of stuff, most of it broken and missing pieces. 

I knew there was no way I would be able to function in so much clutter and chaos. We were between principals at the time so I made the executive decision to throw much of it away. I filled large, black trashbags full of what was no longer salvagable, and then began scraping several years worth of dried glitter off of the window ledge. It wasn't a coincidence that I pretty much avoided glitter after that when it came to Christmas projects in my classroom. 

I had convinced myself that I would have to claim ignorance, and beg for forgiveness if it came down to it. Luckily, no one said a word, and my classroom was neat, and orderly for the first day of school.

Recently, I've been reading a fun little book entitled, How To Be Interesting, by Jessica Hagy. One of her many suggestions is to "Give Yourself Permission." She states, "Give it to yourself, because most of the time, nobody else will."

 Give yourself permission to be unique, different and yourself. Author Gretchen Rubin unapologetically reminds herself to "Be Gretchen."  By giving yourself permission you don't have to worry about begging for forgiveness from someone else.