You have never taken the whole one

Stop it there. That is the whole invitation.

Yesterday we named the reflex, the automatic reach for the damaged piece. Today you interrupt it once.

Here is what to do. The next time there is a better one and a worse one, take the better one.

The whole slice. The chair by the window. The first shower while the water is hot.

The bigger half, the unbent one, the seat facing the view. Whatever the small good thing is, take it, deliberately, and do not announce that you are doing it.

I want to warn you about something, because it will happen and it will surprise you. It is going to feel disproportionately uncomfortable.

Could this everyday breakfast food be the key to balancing your cholesterol naturally?

In fact, scientists have discovered it could reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 60%!

Say “bye, bye” to pills you can barely swallow with this simple swap.

There will be a flicker of guilt over a cookie, which is absurd on its face, and it will arrive anyway. That flicker is the whole reason we are doing this.

It tells you how deep the reflex runs. A habit that produces guilt when interrupted is not a preference. It is a rule you never agreed to.

Notice also what does not happen. Nobody objects, nobody notices, nothing is taken from anyone.

The cost of you taking the good one is zero. It has always been zero, which means the reflex was never protecting anybody in the first place.

We proved this once already with money, when you spent it on yourself and the sky did not fall.

Once, today. Take the good one and eat it without commentary.

Today you have permission to take the better one, quietly, without offering it to anyone else first.

See you tomorrow.

If someone came to mind while you were reading this, send her these letters. The Permission Slips are yours when she stays.