A virtue on my mind each day is Grace. I have a picture frame on my desk at work that just says “Grace”. It is there to remind me to find some in my inner being when I am frustrated and about to say the wrong thing or when I am going through a personal struggle of my own.
When I browse the internet on the word, Grace, many things come up. One of my favorites says it is “forgiveness plus favor”. If I apply that to my life, what a difference every conversation could be, not to mention during my own personal reflection time. I remember being in my mid 20’s and life was not happening fast enough for me. My career was not where I wanted, my relationships were not as bountiful as I needed, I was searching for my husband or wondering when he would show up, the list goes on…. I got in a really bad funk and I could not get out of my own way; clearly not giving myself some grace. I started to have panic attacks, where everything was overwhelming. My chest would hurt, I could not catch my breath and I was always on the edge of crying.
Lucky for me, I found a therapist to help me work through the demands I placed on myself. I also spent some time on medicine to even out my levels, keep me more balanced. It was a journey to bring me back to me. I started to focus on each day, along with the accomplishments I had made or were working towards. Here is what I learned in all of it. I needed to be patient with me. I needed to remind myself to stay on my path and go at my pace. Once I got back to doing just that, life started to make sense.
I believe this can happen at any stage of our life. The key is to recognize when it is happening and take the proper action to adjust. The funny thing about it all, these are the moments in our lives where we grow the most and have to remind ourselves- we are never given more than we can handle.
