ABSTRACT
We range from defaulting to a position of powerlessness—no permission—to one of complete autonomy—blanket permission. The most successful people apply requests for permission situationally and flexibly. There is no "ideal position." One would hope that someone identifying an attacker on an aircraft wouldn't seek permission to leave the seat and try to intervene, or that a doctor encountering an accident wouldn't seek permission to treat the injured. One refused to grant yourself permission but happily accepted the implicit permission granted by someone else. Blanket permission wouldn't include cutting the line at a theater or train station. Embodied in both are the shortcuts, circumventions, and express lanes around certain burdensome permissions as well as the judgment and wisdom to observe required permissions. "Forgiveness is easier than permission" is an excuse. We don't need excuses, we need the judgment to know when to give ourselves permission for the common good and for our own good.
