Grace

Webster defines grace as kindness, favor, mercy, pardon; a special favor; reprieve. Years ago I listened to a lecture that suggested that grace was one of the essential tools everyone needed to put into their toolbox for life. Another word for grace might be allowance. I feel the best word for grace is space. Sometimes, walking through our life without grace can feel like a crowded New York City street at rush hour. Our expectations and fears and/or "what if's" can crowd the common sense right out of us.

Let's play the "what if" game from another angle! What if, by giving yourself some grace, you felt less disappointment? What if, by giving yourself only 10% grace in your life, you could live more at peace and feel happier. What if that 10% you give yourself allowed your voice to be clear and concise? Need some examples...I share what the person offered to her audience: The item you bought on sale might be found for 10% less someplace else. The traffic might be 10% worse than you thought. The scissors you put away in the drawer where they usually are found may have a 10% chance of not being there...especially if you live with someone else. The result you wanted has a 10% chance that it will not turn out quite the way you had it shaped in your mind.

Abe Lincoln said we are about as happy as we make up our minds to be. I always felt a little challenged with his idea ... and sometimes still feel challenged. The truth of the matter is that grace can lead us to that peaceful island Abe held us responsible to find. I have learned that nothing comes out exactly as I painted it in my mind. Sometimes it is not as good, but most times it is better if I allow the moment to have its own wings. The truth is, meals can burn, cars can be lemons, people can disappoint. The other happy truth is that the meal can be fabulous, the car can last for 15 years, and anyone can become a better friend or lover than expected. Pushing away what you think it must be and embracing life, moment by moment for what it is, is the stuff of which grace is made. I wish grace for all of us. It can only make the world be a better place to live.