Grace is Enough

I love the word “grace” – I mean, it’s my daughter’s middle name, which was not by accident! Grace by definition means: a virtue coming from God, mercy, pardon, the quality or state of being considerate or thoughtful.

Lately, in this new normal of living, I find the word grace gives me comfort, calms my nerves, eases my anxiety. This is by no means an easy season for any of us – for the parents trying to figure out how to work a full-time job and be a teacher at the same time, for the front line workers trying to help others while also keeping themselves and their families safe, for the families and friends trying to social distance while staying connected via texts, calls or video chats, for the children big and small trying to understand why they can’t go to school, play with their friends and run around on the playground. It can become emotionally heavy to think about.

Then there’s this whole quarantine thing and the expectations we inadvertently put on ourselves to “make the most of it” like clean the house top to bottom, organize and declutter, redecorate, workout, start a new hobby, whatever our hearts desire with all this “time” we now have.

Then there’s the disappointment and stress we feel in ourselves when we don’t do those things because we’re just too dang tired or just don’t feel like it or just don’t want to muster up the motivation to get started…I know I’ve been feeling that way these days. Or even the guilt we feel when we yell just a little too loud at our kiddos for the umpteenth time or snap at our spouses for merely breathing.

Enter the word GRACE.

Grace for not always being the most patient parent or partner.

Grace for just sitting around during this slower pace of life that we will likely never have again.

Grace for a messy house because the kids are home all day and you’re just trying to keep up with work or you’re just spent from wearing a lot of hats.

Grace for letting your kids have a lot of screen time because sanity.

Grace for eating that extra piece of chocolate or bag of chips.

Grace for skipping that workout today…tomorrow’s another chance to start over.

Grace for locking yourself in your bedroom or bathroom to get some alone time.

Grace for needing alone time.

Grace for a glass or two of wine after a tough day.

I’ve found that when I give myself and others grace, my negative thoughts and emotions start to fall away. The pressure eases. My expectations are in check. It changes my entire perspective in the moment.

And then I can laugh about the silliness of it and the disbelief that this is really the world we’re living in right now…no it’s not some crazy dream. I love the funny memes about the fantasies vs. realities of quarantine life, Tiger King, gaining the corona-15, looking like monsters when we come out of this because we haven’t been able to get our brows waxed, hair cut, lashes done (yes, I am hurting without my lash extensions!), manis/pedis, and whatever else – because we need the comic relief. A way to know we’re not alone in all this.

So think of the word GRACE and what it means for you. My hope is that it gives you as much peace as it gives me. We’ll get through this!