Grace

13th February 2021

The peacock butterfly landed on a yellow buttercup, slowly flapping its wings in the warm sunshine. A middle-aged man wearing a top hat and Bermudas was dancing outrageously on his own, with earphones plugged in, oblivious to those around him. A magnificent blue Great Dane puppy was cantering awkwardly, getting used to its long legs and over-sized frame. Lovers were strolling hand in hand sharing a whisper and a kiss at times. The grass was luscious green, providing safe haven for many scuttling insects and a picnic ground for families. You can see a squirrel looking for nuts and jumping from tree to tree. It is Nature doing simply what she does best.

Very often we may find ourselves feeling life being very tough, especially when there is a pandemic that has resulted in tight regulations that restrict movement and almost denying the physical connection between us, threatening one of our most fundamental needs, the need to connect. Perhaps you are going through a difficult situation in addition to the pandemic, like a relationship break down, business challenges, stress caused by external factors like exams, financial issues, or internal issues like low self-esteem, loneliness, or perhaps in this climate, simply boredom. You are denied what you are used to doing that makes you happy. It can be very difficult to find a reason to smile, to have hope, and to feel like you are worth it. You feel like the world is against you. Maybe you may wonder why others are luckier than you. That is not necessarily true.

There is something that is available to all. That is Grace. Grace is abundant all around us if you look for it. Grace is simply miracles that occur everywhere. It hides in plain sight. You have to adjust your filter that you look out from by calibrating your mindset, escalating your emotions, and purifying your soul. The universe works in abundance. It can be so easy to fall into the trap of looking at things and thinking about issues with scarcity. With the pandemic, you may start thinking about all the things you cannot do instead of appreciating that your heart is still beating and you are still alive. Your beating heart is Grace. Nothing is making it beat and yet it does. With a relationship break down between friends, lovers, or family, you may starting thinking of future good times lost, time wasted instead of appreciating the good times you shared. Those good times were not assured to you from the start and yet it was bestowed upon you. That is Grace. If you are having financial difficulties or business challenges, you may start thinking of unpaid bills, bankruptcy, failure instead of appreciating the fact that you could earn money or start a company in the first place. Or if you are feeling stressed and low, remember that you are able to feel in the first place. A person who cannot feel stress may be dead. Your feelings and your life are Grace at work.

The best and most productive thing you do for Grace is to appreciate her. Appreciating Grace may not change external factors like make the pandemic go away, change your business or financial issues overnight, resolve your relationships or take away your problems. However, it does something better. When you are able to find the blessing (or Grace) and be grateful, the world opens up a bit more. It is almost as though you have to be ‘worthy’ for Grace to appear in your life and it starts by finding her and being grateful to her.

Finding Grace can be extremely easy and yet elusive for some. Nature is a great place to start. Our souls are naturally free and have an innate ability to appreciate Nature from the day we were born if we allow it to. Look at a child when she first marvels at a butterfly fly or see an otter jump into the water and you will understand what I mean. You knew exactly how you felt when you were young. You may have forgotten it but you knew. Explore your backyard, garden, neighbourhood parks and if you are luckier, the wonderful green of woods, forests or the mystic blue of the ocean along the coastline. Simply cease to make sense of things but just feel and experience.

You can find Grace within your home too. If you are struggling with child care and everything is driving you crazy, simply turn to your child for lessons. Your child will teach you Grace if you choose to listen. Very often, our limited mediocre minds stifle our infinite sovereign heart. Marvel at any relationships, whether it turned out well or not. From the infinitesimal possibilities of time and space, they came into your life. They each bring a lesson if you can find it. If you do, your life will be forever changed and you will become better. It is Grace that they entered your life, even if it did not feel like it at times. Remember that life is happening FOR you, not TO you.

So if knowing, finding, and appreciating Grace may not change anything, what is the point? Well, the first obvious point is that you will feel better despite things being the same. Your state will be much better than before and that allows you to make better decisions leading to better outcomes. The second point is the more you can appreciate Grace, as mentioned earlier, the universe opens up more for you. When you are practicing the Attitude of Gratitude more often and turning expectations into appreciation, the universe will reward you with more Grace (often disguised as ‘luck’) and soon you will become one of the ‘luckier’ ones perceived by others. Last but not least, it is the natural thing to do. It is what Nature intended. When you were a child, you knew how to laugh over the smallest thing, be fascinated by the simplest of acts, and be grateful for the seemingly valueless gift. Somehow, when we grew up, our beliefs have been shaped by society to be less grateful and to use our minds more than our hearts. In schools, there is not a single exam that tests your heart, only your mind. I would love to see an ‘A’ level on Grace and Attitude of Gratitude. Can you imagine how much that could change us?

So, practice often deliberately finding Grace, actively applying the Attitude of Gratitude, and reap the rewards of Nature’s abundance. Feel your beating heart, appreciate how your eyelids close on demand and also automatically, your unique bond you have with all the people in your life, your sight and ability to read, your tender heart that allows you to feel amazing and tragic at the same time and simply, living in this beautiful world that we are part of. Consider that you are a fully living organism existing on a planet that is one of the billions of planets that is in one of the billion galaxies in the universe. You are that small and insignificant and yet, the most majestic and important person in your world. How can you not marvel at our ability to be alive and not feel Grace?

So, I wish for you to find Grace, seek the inner peace you longed for and step into your grander self as you deserve, and wow your world.

‘My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.’ – Maya Angelou

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