Permission Granted: Be Who You Were Made to Be and Let Go of the Rest

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars | 131 ratings

Price: 17.32

Last update: 01-27-2025


About this item

From award-winning blogger Melissa Camara Wilkins, come and find a stunningly simple path to confidence and clarity. All you have to do is give yourself permission to show up as your gloriously imperfect self.

Trying to fix yourself is exhausting. But being yourself - that is both possible and life-giving. The key is a simple heart shift from chasing after perfection to learning to tell a truer story about ourselves, the world, and our place in it.

Melissa Camara Wilkins invites you into her journey of discovering the profound simplicity of dropping the pretenses and allowing ourselves to be fully human - flaws and all. This is a story about making life simpler by letting go of who you think you're supposed to be and becoming who you really are.

With wit and compassion, Melissa explores how to be present, show up as your real self, and get comfortable in your own skin by aligning the truth inside you with the life you live on the outside. Gain confidence with the freeing practices of dropping the mask, abandoning the experts, and understanding your real assignment. With refreshing honesty and insight, Melissa invites you to move from the either/or dichotomy into a spacious freedom of embracing the both/and - brave and scared, messy and real, gloriously imperfect and absolutely enough. This is your permission slip to be your whole, human self.

For everyone who feels the pressure to fit in, measure up, and get it together, Permission Granted is a life-giving invitation to soul-level simplicity.


Top reviews from the United States

  • Melissa K.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Permission granted!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2019
    "I don't have to be good at everything. I have other gifts." Over and over again, Melissa Camara Wilkins told me just what I needed to hear! Permission Granted is an engaging read, full of relatable stories that really hit home. The author's voice is like that of a good friend, and you can almost imagine her sitting across the table from you, chatting over a cup of tea. If you are looking for a book that reminds you about grace and love and being who you are meant to be, then this is the book for you!
  • Diana L. Duke
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for anyone who feels less than perfect
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2019
    "How did other people hold it together all the time?... It's like there was some special thread to sew up your life that I did not have. I was the worst at finding the secret special thread store" (p.15).

    If you've ever felt like everyone--except you--has it all together, this is your read. Melissa strikes the ideal balance between humor and honesty as she shares her journey from self-criticism to self-acceptance. Filled with stories from her real and sometimes messy life, the nuggets of wisdom just keep hitting home. This book provides a compassionate path to stripping away the bits that get in the way and learning to be who you really are, which is especially important as we model living with and loving each other to the next generation. Permission accepted!
    Customer image
    Diana L. Duke
    5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for anyone who feels less than perfect
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2019
    "How did other people hold it together all the time?... It's like there was some special thread to sew up your life that I did not have. I was the worst at finding the secret special thread store" (p.15).

    If you've ever felt like everyone--except you--has it all together, this is your read. Melissa strikes the ideal balance between humor and honesty as she shares her journey from self-criticism to self-acceptance. Filled with stories from her real and sometimes messy life, the nuggets of wisdom just keep hitting home. This book provides a compassionate path to stripping away the bits that get in the way and learning to be who you really are, which is especially important as we model living with and loving each other to the next generation. Permission accepted!
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    Customer image
  • Rachel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Such a great read!
    Reviewed in the United States on November 5, 2019
    This book is for anyone that's ever struggled with feeling like they aren't good enough, so basically every woman (and man), I assume. It's a book of understanding that we aren't the only ones on this journey, we aren't the only ones who sometimes feel like we don't have it all together, and that is ok. We should just be who we actually are, who we're meant to be, and stop trying to be something we're not. Beautifully written and totally relatable, with a really great message.
  • Dan Tricarico
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reminders on How to be Me!
    Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2020
    I have been on Wilkins’ email newsletter list for years and have often benefited from this witty, thoughtful, mother of six’s practical and down-to-earth advice on how to live a simpler, well-adjusted, more centered life in the chaos that is our modern culture. So I was thrilled when I heard she was about to launch a book. It did not disappoint. First of all, it gives us all permission to be our true selves, something we can all benefit from. But the book is also full of homespun stories, great advice, support, encouragement, and humor. I know I will be returning to Permission Granted for reminders on how to be me.
  • Mamame
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
    Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2019
    As someone who has entered her 50s, who has spent a lifetime trying to change things about myself that just never seemed to measure up, compared to others. For years trying to change things about myself that I just could seem to change no matter how hard I tried... Permission Granted is just what I needed to feel it’s ok to accept who I am and to be me, flaws and all. This read has also helped me realize the unconscious judgements I was making towards my daughter. She has every right to be who she is flaws and all too. :)
  • KLane
    5.0 out of 5 stars If you like Brene Brown, you will LOVE Melissa Camara Wilkins and this book!
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2019
    Wow! I just finished “Permission Granted” and am amazed at how well the author, Melissa, is able to be so relatable through stories and humor. It was as if she wrote the book for me. I think the reason it's so meaningful is that she doesn't tell you what to do but, rather, she shows you in a very believable and approachable way. She has such a way with words - I highly recommend it. I have read many books in search of this very topic (self acceptance) …she nailed it with this one! I can't wait for her next book!
  • LaLaLaurie
    3.0 out of 5 stars It's Okay to Be YOU
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2019
    I'm not one to choose e-books over physical copies, but I didn't want to pass up a free e-book version of Melissa Camara Wilkins' new book Permission Granted for being part of the book's launch team.

    The book's subtitle "Be who you were made to be and let go of the rest" totally spoke to me, as I'm sure it probably speaks to most women these days. If you're on social media, you see the glorious lives of your friends. If you're on Pinterest, you spend your time pinning recipes, crafts, outfits, and more that you will probably never make, and then you'll feel bad about yourself for not living a Pinterest perfect life. There are all sorts of expectations put on women, whether you're a working mom, a stay at home mom, single, childless, whatever. But in this book, you can let go of all that.

    To be quite honest with you, I feel like reading a physical copy of the book might have had more of an impact on me. So keep that in mind when you're deciding which version you want. Each chapter was pretty short, so will be easy to fit into your busy life, but sometimes I felt like the anecdotes were stretching a bit, and I wondered if maybe this should have just been a big essay instead of a fleshed-out book. Again, maybe if I'd had a physical copy, I would feel differently. I think there's just something more powerful with a book in your hands, dog-earing pages that you want to revisit or even highlighting the sentences you like, if the book actually belongs to you.

    But no matter which version of the book you pick, you'll still get a lot of nice takeaways. Each chapter gives you permission to be or do something. For instance, be human, stop, drop the ball, be here now, find your voice, etc. But it all comes back to one thing: accept yourself just as you are.

    I, like the author, sometimes think my life is a total mess, while everyone else has their stuff together. I, like the author, like to keep busy, but at what expense? I, like the author, believe in God but have a problem with "the church".

    If you find yourself comparing what you have to what others have, giving in to the wants and suggestions of others instead of listening to your own voice, and not extending grace to yourself, then you probably want to read this book.

    Permission Granted is published by Zondervan and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free ARC in exchange for a review.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars It was good.
    Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024
    I liked it.

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