Heather R. Harding, LMHC, LLC

Today my body said ‘not today.’ So I listened.

I chose the couch and a book and let the content wait. And I didn’t spend the whole time feeling guilty about it.

Because here’s what I know now that I didn’t always know: rest isn’t something you earn. It’s something you’re allowed.

The guilt used to creep in the second I sat down. The voice that said you should be doing something. You should be more productive. What will fall apart if you don’t hold it all together today?

Even this post almost didn’t happen today. And then I realized... showing up doesn’t always look like doing it perfectly. Sometimes it looks like doing it from the couch, in whatever way works for you.

But I still showed up. I still posted. Not because I had to, because I wanted to. On my terms. In my time.

That’s the shift. Giving yourself permission to be human without the spiral that comes after.

Your body always tells the truth. When it tells you to slow down, that’s information.

What did you let yourself off the hook for today?
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Every time I asked my husband if I could go for a run, he said yes.

Every single time.

And I still stood there negotiating with myself: will he be annoyed? Will the kids be okay?

I told myself it was about him. About the timing. About everyone else’s needs.

It wasn’t.

It was a belief I had been carrying so long I didn’t even know it was there... that I had to earn the right to exist outside of being needed.

My husband used to tell me over and over: you don’t need my permission...Go.

And I didn’t believe him. Until I did.

Because I finally heard it in my own body. After enough runs, enough walks, enough hours of coming home less stressed, more present, proud of myself, I realized he was never the one holding me back.

I wrote that story. Not him.

If you’re standing in your kitchen right now wondering if it’s okay to go... for the walk, for dinner with your friends, for the massage, for the workout... I want you to hear this:

Nobody is waiting for you to ask. Go.

What’s the thing you keep asking permission for? I’d love to hear it. ⬇️
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Real talk. I used to be terrified of the answer.

Would they really be okay without me managing it all? What would it actually feel like to have the breathing room I kept saying I wanted? And honestly… would I even know what to do with it?

These are the questions you want answered. And at the same time, the ones you’re most afraid of. Because you’ve tried. You’ve communicated your needs, you’ve sat back and tried to breathe through it, you gave it space and tried to let it be. But it was just too hard to watch it unfold, because if things got worse when you let go… that might mean you were the problem all along.

So you stopped asking.

If you just went “oh god, that’s me” I see you. I really do. Come find me, I’d love to talk.
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