Staying Put

Your space is yours, and you don't have to ask.
 
Staying Put is for the person learning to take up their own space without apologising for it.
 
I found this water dragon at Gibraltar Falls, near Canberra, on a warm, sunny day. He was sitting on a rock close to the path, and he was ignoring everyone who walked past. People came and went. He stayed exactly where he was, soaking up the sun, as though he knew the area well and had claimed this spot before anyone else could get near it.
 
I was coming back to myself after a hard stretch, learning to enjoy what was mine again, and I was still working out how to take up my own space. The dragon looked as though he'd never had to learn. His energy said: you can walk past, but there's a distance you need to keep. I'll admit I may have read that into him because of where I was at. But I saw it, and it stayed with me. He didn't check whether the rock was his. He didn't ask anybody. He sat in the sun and let that be enough of an answer.
 
Staying Put is for the part of you that has spent years making room for everyone else. You don't need permission to hold the distance you need, and you don't need to justify it. You can simply sit in the sun on your own rock. Put him somewhere you'll see him when you're about to say yes to something you meant to say no to. He isn't unkind. He's just certain.