I am late to the party but just wanted to say thanks for those! Rest as a necessity not a reward should seriously be a world public health reminder at this point. 🩺
Recently I have also added to my list “permission to postpone to tomorrow (or the day after)”. I think it’s great to have deadlines to hold ourselves accountable at work, in personal projects and in life goals, but too often those become shackles to the process. I used to plan things ambitiously, missed the deadline, and beat myself for it. Not anymore. If it’s not done today, it will be tomorrow (or… the day after!). 🤗
Yes!!! The permission to miss a deadline was huge for me too! You’re so right that it can end up being a shackle! And nothing bad happens afterwards - in fact our mental health is so much better for it!
Love number 1 Mika, it’s so easy to forget that you don’t have to earn rest or that you have to make up for it later. Those to-do lists & busyness are so ingrained as if not doing ‘something’ is time wasted 🧡 I hope you feel better soon 🧡
Totally can relate! I think the Inside Out movies are doing a lot to teach us that it’s not all about being happy all the time.
I find this hard too, I somehow feel like happiness is a destination I should be striving for and anything else is not ok. Yet, we would totally accept our friends if they are having a bad day or out of sorts. So it’s time to accept and, dare I say it, communicate when we have other emotions.
Sometimes it’s easy to say we are sick, than say we are frustrated with the world or feel defeated or sad and need a time out.
My permission slip is to not over-function and not do what others are capable of doing and should do for themselves - I had this in work this week and had to point blank refuse to someone dumping their work on me - a perfectly capable human being who wasn’t owning their work. What upset me most was that I was put in this position by a colleague, grrrhhh.
My Achilles heal is doing what people ask me to do. It’s hard for me to push back if I can possibly do it. But you can end up being a door mat for people to take advantage of you.
Oh wow, feel like I have completely tuned into the rest wavelength, after musing on it myself I now come across a lot of similar content on here and love it!
Again very valuable reminders, thank you Mika! 😊 I think I'd only add permission to let ourselves not be perfect with resting, we don't need the most complex rituals, we just need to calm our body and mind :)
I did the same thing! 😆 I first called it Friday Faves. I'm enjoying writing them and working on a new one with recommended resources for ADHD since it's ADHD Awareness Month!
Love these reminders Mika. As a recovering perfectionist, I have similar struggles around rest, saying no and honouring my body’s limits. Wishing you restful rest and I hope you feel better soon 💚💚
I was probably hit with the same bug, there's definitely something going around here! I definitely needed to give myself permission to rest too! And permission to take time off work. And it was so nice to realise that things don't fall over when I'm not there, and it was actually kind of good to take a step back and focus on myself and rest. But yes I struggled so much with that little voice in the back of my head that I should be doing something!
I'm feeling so much better, and now I realise that it had been lingering for weeks because I was fatigued for quite a while. How are you feeling? Hope you'll start to feel much better soon!
That's exactly where I was last week! I got so impatient and I had something really exciting on at work that I wanted to go to. Once I decided that I should rest and I couldnt go, I finally started actually resting and that's when I started getting better. Listen to your body, you'll get better soon enough ❤️
Sorry to hear you’ve been poorly Mika - hope you feel better soon. I would like a slip to give myself permission to be more me - and less like people expect me to be. It’s not that they are bad or doing me wrong, just that i haven’t let the real me be seen that much. It’s hidden by layers of shyness, lack of confidence, fear of failure - all those old cookies. I also have 3 weeks leave to use by the end of the year, so I’m planning some time to spend with mum and some with my daughter and some to myself and so I’ll need permission to not feel guilty for all the other things I should be doing.
Yes and our capacity changes as we age too - and as our children grow themselves and become more independent, we don’t need to be thinking of their every need - for example. My girl still tells on me a lot at nearly 19 - but she’s getting there. 💚
I hope you’re feeling better, Mika! Lately, I’ve been giving myself permission to turn off my phone notifications each evening on my socials. I found that I was too easily distracted by the constant pinging and grabbing for my phone every time I heard a notice. It was taking away time from my family and for myself. I had to ask myself why? Why do I need to respond every time I get a notification on my phone? The answer was simple. It was to play the game to get more likes, stay engaged, etc. I found it to be too overwhelming and socials were becoming an “energy vampire,” sucking all I had left at the end of my day. My solution was to turn off the notifications and it is definitely helping! 💕
I have been so hard on myself lately for not being 'creative enough' but it's only because I have forgotten how it feels to truly slow down and do nothing. It could be because of the constant pressure I have to study and work in 9 out of 12 months a year so the remaining 3 months go by feeling like I HAVE to make the most of my rest time. Your words serve as timely reminder to focus my attention back into the present moment. So thank you♥️
I hope you feel better now. Wishing you a speedy recovery✨
I am late to the party but just wanted to say thanks for those! Rest as a necessity not a reward should seriously be a world public health reminder at this point. 🩺
Recently I have also added to my list “permission to postpone to tomorrow (or the day after)”. I think it’s great to have deadlines to hold ourselves accountable at work, in personal projects and in life goals, but too often those become shackles to the process. I used to plan things ambitiously, missed the deadline, and beat myself for it. Not anymore. If it’s not done today, it will be tomorrow (or… the day after!). 🤗
Yes!!! The permission to miss a deadline was huge for me too! You’re so right that it can end up being a shackle! And nothing bad happens afterwards - in fact our mental health is so much better for it!
Love number 1 Mika, it’s so easy to forget that you don’t have to earn rest or that you have to make up for it later. Those to-do lists & busyness are so ingrained as if not doing ‘something’ is time wasted 🧡 I hope you feel better soon 🧡
I’m definitely unlearning the belief that if I’m not productive, then I’m wasting my time!
It’s going to take time!
Oh, I love the permission to feel your feelings. I am always holding them in because I feel they are unjustified and people will think I am cray cray!
Totally can relate! I think the Inside Out movies are doing a lot to teach us that it’s not all about being happy all the time.
I find this hard too, I somehow feel like happiness is a destination I should be striving for and anything else is not ok. Yet, we would totally accept our friends if they are having a bad day or out of sorts. So it’s time to accept and, dare I say it, communicate when we have other emotions.
Sometimes it’s easy to say we are sick, than say we are frustrated with the world or feel defeated or sad and need a time out.
My permission slip is to not over-function and not do what others are capable of doing and should do for themselves - I had this in work this week and had to point blank refuse to someone dumping their work on me - a perfectly capable human being who wasn’t owning their work. What upset me most was that I was put in this position by a colleague, grrrhhh.
That’s powerful!
My Achilles heal is doing what people ask me to do. It’s hard for me to push back if I can possibly do it. But you can end up being a door mat for people to take advantage of you.
That’s awesome Beverley!
Oh wow, feel like I have completely tuned into the rest wavelength, after musing on it myself I now come across a lot of similar content on here and love it!
Again very valuable reminders, thank you Mika! 😊 I think I'd only add permission to let ourselves not be perfect with resting, we don't need the most complex rituals, we just need to calm our body and mind :)
Thank you for this reminder. I needed it today. 💕
Glad to hear, and great to see how words which help trigger more words which help and so on and on 😊😊
Oh how interesting! I publish “Five Faves” occasionally lol
When I first started, I thought I could do this weekly on a Friday, and post something else during the week.
But quickly found that it was too much pressure - but I still wanted to share helpful tips. Now it’s monthly and I love it!
How are you liking your series?
I did the same thing! 😆 I first called it Friday Faves. I'm enjoying writing them and working on a new one with recommended resources for ADHD since it's ADHD Awareness Month!
I really needed these right now.. especially 1 & 5.. Thank you ❤️
I’m so glad these permissions found you, Eva. 💕
Love these reminders Mika. As a recovering perfectionist, I have similar struggles around rest, saying no and honouring my body’s limits. Wishing you restful rest and I hope you feel better soon 💚💚
I think there are a lot of us in this camp. Here’s to listing to our bodies without guilt. 💕
This was such a beautiful reminder. I always say I am a human being not a human doing.
I often forget. I don’t know why we need to push ourselves and when exactly it became not ok to slow down?
Yes!
I was probably hit with the same bug, there's definitely something going around here! I definitely needed to give myself permission to rest too! And permission to take time off work. And it was so nice to realise that things don't fall over when I'm not there, and it was actually kind of good to take a step back and focus on myself and rest. But yes I struggled so much with that little voice in the back of my head that I should be doing something!
How are you feeling now? I can’t wait to feel 100% again!
I'm feeling so much better, and now I realise that it had been lingering for weeks because I was fatigued for quite a while. How are you feeling? Hope you'll start to feel much better soon!
I’m feeling a bit impatient to be honest. Just because it’s taking longer than a week. 😆
But now I’m wondering what my body is trying to tell me. So I’ve gone from giving myself permission to rest to seeing it as a gift. 🎁
That's exactly where I was last week! I got so impatient and I had something really exciting on at work that I wanted to go to. Once I decided that I should rest and I couldnt go, I finally started actually resting and that's when I started getting better. Listen to your body, you'll get better soon enough ❤️
Thanks for this advice Sophie xx
Sorry to hear you’ve been poorly Mika - hope you feel better soon. I would like a slip to give myself permission to be more me - and less like people expect me to be. It’s not that they are bad or doing me wrong, just that i haven’t let the real me be seen that much. It’s hidden by layers of shyness, lack of confidence, fear of failure - all those old cookies. I also have 3 weeks leave to use by the end of the year, so I’m planning some time to spend with mum and some with my daughter and some to myself and so I’ll need permission to not feel guilty for all the other things I should be doing.
Yes, yes, yes.
I’ve been thinking a lot about stripping expectations and giving myself permission not to think of other’s needs first all the time.
It means that balls get dropped and I’m not thinking ahead all the time.
But I think that’s ok. We don’t always have to show up in the same way that we always have - because sometimes it has been to the detriment to us. 💕
Yes and our capacity changes as we age too - and as our children grow themselves and become more independent, we don’t need to be thinking of their every need - for example. My girl still tells on me a lot at nearly 19 - but she’s getting there. 💚
Thanks for this Bronwen 💕
I hope you’re feeling better, Mika! Lately, I’ve been giving myself permission to turn off my phone notifications each evening on my socials. I found that I was too easily distracted by the constant pinging and grabbing for my phone every time I heard a notice. It was taking away time from my family and for myself. I had to ask myself why? Why do I need to respond every time I get a notification on my phone? The answer was simple. It was to play the game to get more likes, stay engaged, etc. I found it to be too overwhelming and socials were becoming an “energy vampire,” sucking all I had left at the end of my day. My solution was to turn off the notifications and it is definitely helping! 💕
This is so great! I love this boundary!
It’s so easy to get caught up and stay connected all the time.
I love that you recognised this and have done something about it.
I’m sure whatever we get pinged about can wait. 💕
This was so beautiful Mika!
I have been so hard on myself lately for not being 'creative enough' but it's only because I have forgotten how it feels to truly slow down and do nothing. It could be because of the constant pressure I have to study and work in 9 out of 12 months a year so the remaining 3 months go by feeling like I HAVE to make the most of my rest time. Your words serve as timely reminder to focus my attention back into the present moment. So thank you♥️
I hope you feel better now. Wishing you a speedy recovery✨
I’m so happy that it was a timely message for you.
You have so many things to juggle, it feels odd in our bodies when we slow down, like there’s something we “should” be doing.
I struggle with that.
I hate that sometimes it’s illness that causes us to take that much needed rest.
Here’s to more guilt free downtime! Because we deserve it and we need it!
I'm SO bad at this, so thank you so much for this reminder, Mika.
I'm so glad it was helpful! I will be referring back to this again and again. ☺️
I give myself Permission to say no so that I'm not overfilling my days.
Hope you are feeling better, Mika.
That is a great one! So easy to overfill our days and then feel bad if we don't get EVERYTHING done. xx
Here's to more balance and rest.
Permission to ignore the phone/messages for a day or a few hours. Permission to respond when you feel like it😮💨
That's a great one! I find that tricky, but often it can wait, so it's a great reminder. Thanks!