As I navigate new relationships and old relationships in new ways, I remind myself that eveything I do or say is done with my consent.
It may seem foolishly obvious at first, but how many times do we say, “I have to…”?
The truth is that we don’t have to do anything. We don’t have to survive, we don’t have to merely surive, and we don’t have to live life with intention.
For almost a year I have been checking myself when I utter an I-have-to. My sons have been with me on this journey as those words still come out of my mouth and I work hard to correct with, “No. I am choosing to do X and these are the reasons why.”
It is powerful to make consent a central tenant of self-ownership. I have to analyze the agreements I make with myself and negotiate them when they don’t fit my present. Through negotiating with my Self, I have learned how to better communicate my needs to others.
God bless and thank you for reading,
Jason