I was listening to something just a few minutes ago.
Smart. Motivational. One of those talks that’s supposed to wake you up with a catchy frame that makes your eyebrows go up.
And suddenly — I froze.
It was subtle… but I felt my chest constrict, and a litany of excuses fired through my head.
That doesn’t work for me…
I would need X before that would work for me…
I wasn’t arguing with it.
It wasn’t “this is bullshit.”
Just…
this doesn’t apply to you yet.
You know that feeling.
The moment where something lands and instead of expanding you, it halts you — because you already have an excuse lined up for why it doesn’t work.
I noticed it immediately.
Because the words themselves weren’t wrong.
And I wasn’t disagreeing.
I was frozen.
And in that moment, I didn’t even know why — just that familiar, frustrating feeling of:
“Yeah… BUT!”
And then I realized something uncomfortable and familiar.
It even feels dignified when it happens.
Responsible. Realistic. Humble.
But in the body?
It’s immobility.
That moment where life invites you forward and something inside quietly says,
“Not yet.”
And then it hit me.
This wasn’t fear.
This was power paused — waiting for permission.
So I stopped waiting.
Not because I convinced myself of anything.
But because I stopped needing permission to move.