You Are Pre-Approved

I was letting Anne Lamott’s words wash over me as I went on a walk and finished her short book Almost Everything on audio. One story she told resonated, where she called up a mentor after feeling like a horrible person and mother and the friend told her “honey, you are pre-approved.”

At first, I think this is meant in the heavenly sense. Then, I unpack what it means to have pre-approval, to have permission, to be who you are. To be yourself with all your flaws and cruelties alongside the kindness and pursuit of better. What would it mean if we were pre-approved in our life? What does it mean if we had permission to make the choices we needed to make?

I’ve been thinking lately about the infinite paths my life could follow. Some are in my control, some are not. But I think I needed to hear that whatever path I pursue, that it is valid. That I don’t need to worry about whether my decisions will be approved or denied. That I don’t even need to ask. I am pre-approved.

And I am trying to get comfortable with the uncertainty that most days, I don’t know what I am pre-approved for.

“When we are stuck in our convictions and personas, we enter into the disease of having good ideas and being right.”

Anne Lamott

With Love,
Natalie