You Don’t Need Permission to Choose Joy

One of my beautiful soul sisters shared a story this afternoon - about a decision she’s sitting with.

It’s exciting.

She’s always followed her curiosity. Try this. Learn that. Dip a toe in here. Say yes to something new.

But somewhere along the way, she picked up the label of flaky. Not consistent. Not sticking at things.

Yet this is who she is. A woman led by instinct. Moved by interest. Animated by possibility.

But oh, the conditioning we carry. The pressure to justify ourselves. To conform to standards that were never ours.

“Don’t waste your life.”

“What’s the return on investment ?”

“Will this lead anywhere ?”

Especially when time and money are involved - suddenly, joy isn’t enough.

I remember it from my accounting days. Investment decisions had to pass the test:

•  Internal rate of return

•  Net present value

•  Payback period

Everything had to make sense - on a spreadsheet. Decisions had to be justified to management, to a board, to shareholders.

And here’s the thing. That mindset trickles down into our lives.

We start running our lives like businesses.

We treat our hearts like they need a board meeting.

We want to know the payoff - before we’ve even stepped through the door.

But people are not companies.

And not everything has to “make sense”.

Especially not in advance.

When my friend told me about her dream - to study building design for six months - you could feel the spark. The joy. The aliveness of possibility.

And I thought, how often we trade that for safety. For certainty. For the illusion of a linear path - just to satisfy other people’s expectations, fears, model of the world.

But the best parts of life ? They rarely come from what we planned.

What we don’t see in the moment - and may never be able to explain on paper - is how saying yes to what excites us can open doors we didn’t even know existed.

When we make decisions based on logic alone, we lose the magic of freedom.

We get stuck trying to make the right decision - instead of the real one.

There’s a saying about climbing the ladder of success, only to realise it’s leaning against the wrong wall.

But what if there is no wrong wall ?

There are just walls. And ladders.

And our job is to feel into which one is ours to climb.

Not forever.

Not perfectly.

But right now.

Because joy is a good enough reason.

So let me ask you:

What would you choose if you didn’t have to justify it ?

What would you do for the love of it ?

The thrill ?

The curiosity ?

The aliveness ?

Not for a return.

But for the you it brings back to life.

You don’t need permission.

You just need to listen.

And trust that your joy knows the way.

Love Bobbi ❤️

Wisdom speaker | Transformation Coach | Trans Woman | Model