GrandRising | Permission

One of the strangest things human beings do is wait.

We wait for approval.

We wait for validation.

We wait for certainty.

We wait for someone wiser.

Someone older.

As if they'd care

Someone richer.

As if they'd matter.

Someone more experienced.

Someone more qualified.

As if they'd give care.

Someone more important.

As if they'd value whatever it  might be.

As though there exists a council somewhere quietly discussing whether we may finally begin living our lives.

I have searched for this council.

I have yet to find it.

What I have found instead are people postponing themselves.

Postponing dreams.

Postponing conversations.

Postponing creativity.

Postponing joy.

Postponing change.

Waiting for a permission slip to us the privacy of a bathroom, that was never coming.

The truth is, many of the most important moments in life begin when a person realizes they are the one holding the pen.

The gate was never locked.

The door was never closed.

The authority they were seeking was often their own.

This does not mean every idea is wise.

Nor does it mean every action is without consequence.

Quite the opposite.

Permission and responsibility have always traveled together.

The moment you stop waiting for permission is the moment accountability becomes yours as well.

And perhaps that is why so many hesitate.

Because freedom sounds beautiful until it asks something of you.

Until it asks you to choose.

To risk.

To create.

To fund.

To travel.

To begin.

To be.

Without guarantees.

Without applause.

Without certainty.

Yet, that is where life seems to happen.

Not after permission.

After participation.

Being the co-creative director or your life is one thing. Yes.

But, the refusal to participate in such.

Is the real loss.

What fascinates me is how often people confuse observation with participation.

They watch.

They study.

They analyze.

They prepare.

They strategize.

They theorize.

They gather information until information itself becomes a hiding place.

As though knowledge and action were the same thing.

They are not.

A map is not a journey.

A blueprint is not a building.

A recipe is not a meal.

And an intention is not a life.

At some point the observer must become a participant.

At some point the thinker must act.

At some point the dream must leave the mind and enter the world.

Otherwise what was the purpose of the dream?

To be admired?

Or to be lived?

I have read of kingdoms, dynasties, corporations, and entire nations doing much of this very thing.

Waiting.

Waiting for a better time.

Waiting for better conditions.

Waiting for certainty.

Waiting for permission.

Then one day they look upon the ruins of opportunity and wonder where it all went.

As though opportunity was required to leave a forwarding address.

As though time was obligated to wait for them to feel ready.

As though history did not spend years sending invitations.

As though participation was not required.

As though indecision itself was not also a decision.

In waiting.

There is more to loose than the loss itself.

In waiting.

We can fail.

Some people are so afraid of failing that they accidentally dedicate their entire lives to practicing it.

This is not a Post about "Striking when the Iron is Hot".

This is a reminder that if you do not strike at all that is also a choice.

A star doesn't ask permission to shine brightly.

The fire within it claims presence and inevitability.

So today I leave you with this:

What part of your life are you still waiting to be authorized to live?

And who exactly are you waiting for?

Have a Rising that kindles you.