Led By Heart: the art of allowing

This is part 18 of my 'Led By Heart' series for the 31-day writing challenge. You can find the list of all my 31 posts here. Click here to check out the other participating blogs!

Today, I have one simple question for you.

Are you allowing yourself to have what you want?

And I don't really mean whether you buy those nice things that have taken your fancy. I don't mean whether you treat yourself to a little something from time to time - though I hope you do!

I'm talking about something a lot more important here. The big stuff.

Because there may be something you really want, and it could be that kind of desire that is deeply rooted in your heart, one that won't leave you and won't be entirely repressed, still lingering at the back of your mind, nudging you, making you excited, scared and hopeful at the same time. Maybe you've never told anyone about it. Maybe you haven't even been honest about it with yourself. And you tried telling yourself it's just a whim. Or that it's too big to be achievable. And it could be because you know it would make you vulnerable, get you out of your comfort zone and force you to just risk it.

We're sometimes secretly so scared that even if someone was handing us our dream on a silver plate, we couldn't bring ourselves to take it.

Or it could be a slightly different case: you've been working hard on your dream, yet you still can't 'get there', you're still not able to make it happen, to claim it as your own. And it's possible that you've begun to doubt whether you should keep pursuing it at all...

Either way, my question for you stands.

Are you allowing yourself to have it?

Fully and completely?

Are you open to it? Do you know that you deserve it, that you can have it?

Because what's yours will always come to you - unless you prevent it.

Sit down and have a little chat with yourself. This could be a subconscious thing and it might take some time for you to raise it to the light.

Ask your heart:

Am I hundred percent certain I want this?
Am I just focusing on the obstacles and worrying about all the problems that haven't even come up yet, am I stuck and blocked by fear and lack of trust? Or am I willing to take one baby step and see what happens?
Do I know that I know that I know that I know that I CAN have it? That it's okay, it's allowed, it's possible, and it's definitely worth trying and fighting for?

You owe it to yourself to press on.

If you come across any "buts", that is any fear-based reasons why not, take your time to observe them and try to find where they stem from. Is it something that happened in your past? Do you know that you are not who you were back then, and you don't need to drag it with you and keep identifying yourself with that person? We are new every day.

Practice awareness and watch out for any discouraging or doubting thoughts you have. Know how you talk to yourself. And whenever you hear something that's trying to bring you down and is not honouring your dream and who you are, change that thought! It could be a long process, but little by little you'll be able to let go, renew your thinking and heal.

I want to encourage you (and me, too, really!) to quit underplaying it, to stop putting it off till you feel 'more ready', to give yourself permission to do and have what you know in your heart you are called to do and meant to have.


Have you ever struggled with allowing and receiving? What helped you 'let it come'?