I recognize that I’m a complicated system…I’m a multi-faceted and  multi-dimensional being…I don’t always think of myself in singular terms…I think of my parts separately…And I have different emotions about these different parts…Today I appreciate all of these parts…I appreciate the whole…Even though it might be hard for me to say these things…I give myself permission to say them and truly feel them…I send love and appreciation to my body…I send love and appreciation to my mind…I send love and appreciation to my spirit…I send love and appreciation to my past…I send love and appreciation to my present…I send love and appreciation to my future…I send love and appreciation to my dreams…I send love and appreciation to my worries that are trying to keep me safe…I send love and appreciation to the part of me that’s keeping me healthy…I send love and appreciation to the part of me that’s keeping me grounded…I send love and appreciation to the part of me that’s keeping me thoughtful…I send love and appreciation to every part of my being…I send love and appreciation to all of me…I send love and appreciation…I send love and appreciation…I send love and appreciation…I send love and appreciation. 

There is a part of me that believes that I understand the issue I’m experiencing is because of very specific reasons…It’s good that I’m trying to figure out the root cause…It’s helpful for me to investigate the information I have…I give myself permission to be open to the fact…That even though I think this is the reason that I am the way that I am….It does not mean this is the reason I am this way…I am open to letting go of this story…I’m not going to dismiss my story…And I’m not going to say the story is wrong…But I also know that just because I believe I am this way because of a story…That does not mean it is a fact…As I tap today I am open to new information about my issue…So that I can truly clear it and and move forward in the most healthy way possible.

There’s a part of me that wants to know the root cause…There’s a part of me that wants to know why…Because if I know why…I will be in a position to prevent this from happening again…And that is a good motivation…It would be great to understand why…But if I wait to understand why…I may never heal this…It is possible that there might not be one specific reason or cause…It might be something that slowly crept in over time…And slowly changed the way I saw myself in the world…I give myself permission to resolve this issue without knowing exactly why and how it came about…I’m open to the possibility that I will know why as I go through this process…And if I uncover new information…I can use it to make better choices in the future…But just because it happened before doesn’t mean it will happen again…And just because I don’t know why it happened does not mean it will happen again…My healing is much more important than understanding why…When my healing happens and I move forward with my life…Then I will be healthier…I give myself permission not to know why in order to heal.

I understand that this is not a healing moment but a healing process…As my healing unfolds I know I’m doing it in such a way that it will be lasting…It would be great if it happened in a flash…It would be great if I could release this in a single session…But I’m more concerned with how long the healing lasts…And how deep the healing is…Than I am about how quickly it happens…If this takes five or six or seven weeks I am fine with that…In the scope of my whole life it is just a short time….And I’m okay with that…Because I want long-term health…I want long-term healing…This is a process…It’s not a moment…And I give myself permission to be comfortable with the fact that it’s a process…I give myself permission to let this process unfold in a way that will lead to long-term lasting health.

I give myself permission to recognize that sometimes when people help they aren’t actually helpful at all…The help they are offering and the advice they are giving is not useful…And in some cases it actually makes it harder for me because I have to deal with them too…It is hard enough trying to solve the problem at hand…It becomes worse when I have to deal with help that is not useful…I can appreciate where they are coming from…I can appreciate the fact that they want better for me…I can appreciate their intention…But just because someone’s intention is good does not mean that they are actually helpful…Sometimes they are well meaning and but not competent…I am allowed to acknowledge that it is frustrating to have unhelpful helpfulness…It can feel overwhelming when unuseful advice is forced upon me….And because I’m trying to solve this problem…I give myself permission to stop whatever is making it harder for me to solve it…I’m even allowed to stop help that isn’t actually helpful…It can be hard to tell someone to stop helping us…They can perceive us as being ungrateful…But if they are going to be put off emotionally because we are asking them to stop, that is their choice…I am not responsible for their emotional state…I am not responsible for how they respond to me…I can acknowledge their intention…I can understand where they are coming from… At the same time I can ask them to stop helping in an unhelpful way…I need to solve the problem at hand…That means I’m permitted to allow in only what is truly helpful…If I need help, I’m allowed to ask for help in a way that is specifically helpful to me…Standing up for myself in this way can be hard…But dealing with the problem that is in front of me is harder…Solving my problem is more important…I’m allowed to ask for help…And I’m also allowed to turn down help that is not useful…In the end it is solving my problem that is most important…I am not responsible for how others feel as I solve my problem…This is my problem…And since I’m responsible for it…I’m allowed to make the best choices to help me to solve it…I can appreciate well-meaning incompetence…And I can say no to well-meaning incompetence…Because it is what is best for me. 

I recognize I take on burdens for others…When I take these burdens on it is an act of love…I don’t want them to have to carry this burden anymore…Sometimes I do this consciously…Sometimes I take these on burdens unconsciously at a very early age…It was an act of love…I recognize there is a higher act of love…Instead of carrying the burden I can release the burden…I give myself permission to let go of all of the burdens I’ve been caring for others…This will give me freedom…It will also give freedom to those I’m carrying the burden for…I can feel myself slowly shedding these burdens…This is not only freedom for me but it’s also freedom for those I’m carrying the burden for…I don’t have to remember the burdens or why I picked them up…I just know now is the time to release them…I give myself permission to feel the burden slowly like thing and releasing…I’m getting this freedom for myself and for others. 

Collarbone…side of the eye…Eyebrow…Under the nose…Side of the hand…Under the arm…Collarbone…Eyebrow…Side of the eye…Under the nose…Collarbone…Side of the hand…Under the arm…Collarbone… Side of the eye…Eyebrow…Under the eye…Under the nose…Chin…Collarbone…Side of the hand…Under the arm.

I’ve been told the quitting is wrong…I have been told that quitting is a failure…I have been told that quitting is a sign of weakness…I’ve been told that quitting as a sign that I don’t care…I have been told that  quitting is selfish…And because that is the case, it is hard to quit…It is hard to let go…It’s hard to move on…Because I don’t want to be judged…I don’t want to be seen as weak…I don’t want to be seen as letting other people down…The reality is that there are things I need to quit…The reality is that there are things that I need to let go…It is OK to let go of what is no longer useful…It is OK to let go of things that are no longer helpful…It is OK to let go of things that are no longer healthy…When I quit, I might receive push back…When I quit, I might receive judgment…When I quit, I might be seen as less than…In the end it doesn’t matter what other people think…In the end it doesn’t matter how other people judge me…This is my life…This is not their life…They are not the ones living through this…They are not the ones having to experience this…I give myself permission to know it is OK to let go of old commitments…The world is different from when I first made that commitment…The circumstances are different from when I first made that commitment…And I am different from when I first made that commitment…I must take responsibility for the consequences of quitting…I might have to confront others when I decide to quit something…It is OK for me to quit…Quitting is not the same as failing…Quitting is the result of a thoughtful decision…That makes sense for me…I give myself permission to let go…What is more important than my past choices is what I choose next…And the life I choose to live…It is OK for me to quit…Because when I quit…I’m making the best choice for myself right now…And I’m making the best choice for myself in the future.

I’m glad that I have goals…It gives me something to work towards…It gives me the ability to evaluate my progress…It gives me the ability to recognize how far I’ve come…It is really easy for me to get hung up on achieving the goal exactly…Of making the transformation process an all-or-nothing proposition…Because when I make transformation all-or-nothing, the only way I can recognize success is if I’ve achieved it all…The only way I can recognize success is if I’ve achieved everything…But in reality I don’t have to have 100% success in order for my life to be better…I don’t have to have 100% transformation in order for things to have improved…When I recognize transformation is a process I am able to recognize that I am in process…I’m able to recognize the value of my success in this moment…I give myself permission to be easy with myself in this process…I give myself permission to celebrate my success is along the way…I give myself permission to know that even achieving part of my goal makes a difference…Achieving part of my goal makes my life better…Achieving part of my goal makes me happier…Achieving part of my goal makes me healthier…Celebrating success along the way won’t slow me down…It won’t distract me…Instead it will motivate me…Because each bit of success I achieve makes it possible for me to move forward in a healthy way…It helps me to be motivated to take more action…It helps me to appreciate all that I’ve already achieved. 

I recognize that I really want someone to say yes…Because if they say yes, it will be good for me…And it will be good for them…Because we’re doing something together, our lives will be better…If I ask them to do this…I’m giving them the opportunity to say no…And when someone says no to my request…Especially a request I really believe in…Especially a request I really want…It is easy to feel that when they say no, they are rejecting me as a person…Like they are saying I am not worth their time…They are saying I’m not worth their effort…They are saying I am not worth their energy…They are judging me as unworthy…Because when I ask for something…It is because I believe in it…On some level my request is part of me…And when they turn down my request, it feels as if they are turning me down…I give myself permission to recognize that when people say no to me…They are saying this is the wrong fit…They are saying this isn’t the right time…They’re saying they’re not in the right emotional state to say yes…They are saying they don’t understand what I am offering…When someone rejects my offer…That is not the same as rejecting me… They aren’t making a value statement about me…They’re not making a judgment of me…They are stating where they are…Therefore it is safe for me to ask…When I ask I’m giving them permission to say no…It is not judgment…It is not a statement of who they think I am…I give myself permission to know my life is better when I ask for what I want…Even if most of the time people say no…Every time someone says yes it is an opportunity and experience I wouldn’t otherwise have…I give myself permission to be easy with myself as I ask…Knowing that my ask doesn’t have to be perfect…It is safe for me to want what I want…And it is safe for me to ask…It is even safe for me to hear them say no.

There is a part of me…That wants me to be successful…That wants so much better for myself…That wants me to move forward…It wants me to achieve my goals…I am so happy that there is a part of me that wants to be successful…That wants better…That knows I am capable of more…I can appreciate where I am…I can appreciate the blessings in my life…And still recognize the fact that more is possible…That growth is possible…That progress is possible…But sometimes I look at my goals and I feel disappointed…I feel sad…I feel overwhelmed…I feel angry…I feel frustrated…Because I haven’t reached those goals…I know how much better my life will when I achieve them…But I’m not there yet…And that feels so disappointing…But I give myself permission to recognize the fact…That success is not an all-or-nothing proposition…It doesn’t come down to simply success or simply failure…As I take steps…As I work towards my goal…I’m positioning myself to achieve what I want…And there will be success along the way…I am already getting better…I’m already making progress…When I don’t take the time to acknowledge and appreciate that progress…I do myself a disservice…I end up demotivating myself…I make it harder for myself…To keep taking action…I give myself permission to recognize the fact that I am making progress…I am having success…It is making a difference…Success is not an all-or-nothing proposition…As I move forward…And as I get closer…Success comes with me…Success grows…And as those degrees of success increase…So does my enjoyment…So does my enrichment…So does the quality of my life…I give myself permission to keep striving for better…To work towards my well-crafted goals…To appreciate the progress I’m making in the moment… To appreciate how this progress is helping me to have a better life right now.

I know that other people have impressions of me…They have beliefs about who I am…They have beliefs about what I am capable of…They have beliefs about how I act…And I also have an impression of what I think other people think about me…Based on who I am…Based on my experience…Based on her past interactions…I have written a story inside of my head about how they navigate the world…I’ve written a story inside of my head about what they think about me…It is possible that the story I have written about what they think about me has nothing to do with what they actually think about me…I’m in a situation where I respond to what I think they think…Because for me what I think they think is the reality I operate in…And my emotional response comes from this…The action I take is informed by it…This means my actions and emotions are impacted by a story written inside my head about what I’m guessing they think about me…It doesn’t matter if this is what is really going on…Because I am responding emotionally to the story that I have written…I give myself permission to let go of these stories…I give myself permission to know I don’t have to respond in this way…I give myself permission to define myself in my own terms…I give myself permission to choose who I am…Not what other people think I am…Not what I think other people think I am…But who I am…It is safe for me to be authentically me…It is safe for me to be my true self…It is safe for me to make choices and actions based on who I am…Knowing that it does not matter what I think others think about me…The reality is most people aren’t thinking of me at all…They are so wrapped up inside their own experience they are completely missing me…I am not crossing their mind…And since I’m not crossing their mind…It doesn’t matter what I think they think about me…All that matters is me being myself…It is safe for me to be myself.

I recognize the fact that I feel like I should do this…Should is a powerful word…When I use the word should…It feels like I must…When I use the word should…It feels like I have to…When I use the word should…It feels as if I am out of control…But it makes sense that I feel like I am obliged to something that others say I should do…There is an ancient and primitive part of me that recognizes that if I was pushed outside of the tribe, I would die…Because staying connected to the community was a matter of life or death…Staying connected to the community was a necessity…And going against the grain was dangerous…Going against the grain was perilous…Therefore I have learned to do what the community wants and expects…Because at one point in history it was a matter of life and death…But that is no longer the case…And I can go my own way and survive…I can make the choices that are best for me and thrive…And because of this, the word should doesn’t have to hold so much power over me…Recognizing that can be difficult…Because most of the shoulds in our lives have been passed on by people close to us…We all want to belong and be connected…Especially to those closest to us…But I give myself permission to know that I can stay connected to my loved ones…Without having to do what they think I should be doing…I’m allowed to do what I want…I am safe choosing what I want…I can remain connected to others while choosing what I want…When anyone says I should do something…I can take that as input…I can take that as something to consider…But it is nothing more than someone else’s opinion…And I am allowed to take it for as much or as little as I want…I get to choose what is right for me…Not because of the cultural norm…Not because someone else said I should do it…But simply because I want to do it…I give myself permission to let go of the word should…There’s nothing I should do…There are only things that I choose to do…And things I choose not to do…I am responsible for those choices…I am responsible for the consequences of those choices…But they are my choices…Because I choose to do them…Not because I should do them…I give myself permission to have control over my own life and my own choices…I give myself permission to let go of should.