My Heroes, how many of us walk the tightrope of life every time we set foot on the ground? Arms stretched out beyond their limits hoping to create that elusive balance, or at least just enough to get across to the other side. Wondering…How DO those tightrope walkers do it?
I’ll tell you: They are only focused on ONE thing: the rope. Whereas you, my Heroes, you are looking at one arm from which is hanging (insert your own lists here....) several children, dripping noses, piles of homework, baseball games, music lessons, doctor appointments, volunteer projects, mind-boggling situations ……You’re looking at the other arm laden with work, your OWN drippy nose, piles of paperwork, dirty laundry, projects unfinished and not yet started, the exercise you have yet to do, the should-do-lists and the must-do-lists…
Yes, my Heroes, your arms are laden…not free like the tightrope walker. And, as if this ISN’T already enough to throw your balance to the moon and beyond, you look down (don’t you know that you’re not SUPPOSED to look down when on a tightrope?!!!) and there, on your ankle, are expectations, your long list of what you AREN’T doing, your bad decisions and good, your failures and successes, your good and evil selves fighting for control......And on the other ankle, there, weighing you down even further….your urges, your desires, your passions untold and hidden deep down, your soul and spirit sit conversing over how to lift you, to support you…stumped.
And my Heroes, my amazing, wonderful, give-yourselves-a-break Heroes…do you know what we do? We still wonder why we cannot find the balance we need to get us across to the other side. We compare ourselves to the tightrope walker who is free of what pulls us into a million tiny pieces. We compare ourselves to the PROFESSIONAL tightrope walker whose ONLY responsibility at that time is to safely move across the rope. Unburdened, they can gracefully lift pointed toes, move arms lighter than air……whereas for the rest of us, one step and we fall flat on our faces, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing on the safety net below. Or, if we are REALLY lucky, we miss the safety net all together and we hit the ground with a thud, only to be buried beneath all that was weighing us down in the first place.
We try methods, strategies, hire organizers, coaches, personal trainers, assistants, therapists (ALL important and extremely valuable), read magazines, books, articles about ‘How to Find the Balance,’ or ‘How to Create the Balance You Need.’ We sit amongst friends, nodding our heads as they talk about how challenging it is to find ‘balance,’ whether you work full time, part time, are retired, or don’t work in the traditional sense…We ALL strive to find that ‘perfect balance’ to get us across the rope.
My Heroes, I’d like to tell you a secret. Come close, I’m going to whisper it in your ear. Closer still, my Heroes. Lean in, you want to make sure you hear this with all of your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit.
My Heroes, there is NO perfect balance. It doesn’t exist. And that’s OKAY. Yes, it IS, my Heroes. For we have something even better that we can give ourselves each and every day. We have GRACE. Yes, GRACE. My Heroes, I urge you, I implore you, I encourage you, I give you permission to find GRACE in your days. Give YOURSELF permission to stop looking for the balance and to FIND YOUR GRACE.
Try it. When you feel most like screaming. Or the stresswhelm tears are overflowing into the pasta you just overcooked…….When you feel as though if one more person asks you to do something you’re going to have a headless friend….When you’ve just yelled at your partner, your child, yourself for something likely smaller than it seems…GIVE YOURSELF GRACE.
Whatever GRACE looks like for you, as it’s different for every Hero. Maybe GRACE is taking a breath. Maybe it’s taking a walk. Maybe it’s allowing yourself to NOT finish something and just go to bed. Maybe it’s telling someone you need space. Maybe it’s telling yourself you need space. Maybe it’s putting the ‘LISTS’ aside and saying to yourself, “I’m giving myself GRACE right now and I’m going to be okay with that.’
Whatever it is for YOU, my Heroes, find it, give it FREELY and often to yourselves. Replace that failure-producing search for balance with the success-producing gifts of GRACE. You will find, my overburdened Heroes, that once you begin to more freely accept the power of giving yourself GRACE, you will no longer even need balance. You will also find that, in giving yourself more grace, you will begin to give others more grace, too. Try it. Not just once. Many times. Over and over. GRACE. It’s there for you.
Share, my Heroes, how you give yourself GRACE. Perhaps there are many ways you can gift yourself grace….share them all. We need to learn from the grace you give yourselves.
Have a GRACE-FILLED week, my Heroes,
Lora Ackermann
GRACE-Giving Hero Trainer
I’ll tell you: They are only focused on ONE thing: the rope. Whereas you, my Heroes, you are looking at one arm from which is hanging (insert your own lists here....) several children, dripping noses, piles of homework, baseball games, music lessons, doctor appointments, volunteer projects, mind-boggling situations ……You’re looking at the other arm laden with work, your OWN drippy nose, piles of paperwork, dirty laundry, projects unfinished and not yet started, the exercise you have yet to do, the should-do-lists and the must-do-lists…
Yes, my Heroes, your arms are laden…not free like the tightrope walker. And, as if this ISN’T already enough to throw your balance to the moon and beyond, you look down (don’t you know that you’re not SUPPOSED to look down when on a tightrope?!!!) and there, on your ankle, are expectations, your long list of what you AREN’T doing, your bad decisions and good, your failures and successes, your good and evil selves fighting for control......And on the other ankle, there, weighing you down even further….your urges, your desires, your passions untold and hidden deep down, your soul and spirit sit conversing over how to lift you, to support you…stumped.
And my Heroes, my amazing, wonderful, give-yourselves-a-break Heroes…do you know what we do? We still wonder why we cannot find the balance we need to get us across to the other side. We compare ourselves to the tightrope walker who is free of what pulls us into a million tiny pieces. We compare ourselves to the PROFESSIONAL tightrope walker whose ONLY responsibility at that time is to safely move across the rope. Unburdened, they can gracefully lift pointed toes, move arms lighter than air……whereas for the rest of us, one step and we fall flat on our faces, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing on the safety net below. Or, if we are REALLY lucky, we miss the safety net all together and we hit the ground with a thud, only to be buried beneath all that was weighing us down in the first place.
We try methods, strategies, hire organizers, coaches, personal trainers, assistants, therapists (ALL important and extremely valuable), read magazines, books, articles about ‘How to Find the Balance,’ or ‘How to Create the Balance You Need.’ We sit amongst friends, nodding our heads as they talk about how challenging it is to find ‘balance,’ whether you work full time, part time, are retired, or don’t work in the traditional sense…We ALL strive to find that ‘perfect balance’ to get us across the rope.
My Heroes, I’d like to tell you a secret. Come close, I’m going to whisper it in your ear. Closer still, my Heroes. Lean in, you want to make sure you hear this with all of your heart, mind, body, soul, and spirit.
My Heroes, there is NO perfect balance. It doesn’t exist. And that’s OKAY. Yes, it IS, my Heroes. For we have something even better that we can give ourselves each and every day. We have GRACE. Yes, GRACE. My Heroes, I urge you, I implore you, I encourage you, I give you permission to find GRACE in your days. Give YOURSELF permission to stop looking for the balance and to FIND YOUR GRACE.
Try it. When you feel most like screaming. Or the stresswhelm tears are overflowing into the pasta you just overcooked…….When you feel as though if one more person asks you to do something you’re going to have a headless friend….When you’ve just yelled at your partner, your child, yourself for something likely smaller than it seems…GIVE YOURSELF GRACE.
Whatever GRACE looks like for you, as it’s different for every Hero. Maybe GRACE is taking a breath. Maybe it’s taking a walk. Maybe it’s allowing yourself to NOT finish something and just go to bed. Maybe it’s telling someone you need space. Maybe it’s telling yourself you need space. Maybe it’s putting the ‘LISTS’ aside and saying to yourself, “I’m giving myself GRACE right now and I’m going to be okay with that.’
Whatever it is for YOU, my Heroes, find it, give it FREELY and often to yourselves. Replace that failure-producing search for balance with the success-producing gifts of GRACE. You will find, my overburdened Heroes, that once you begin to more freely accept the power of giving yourself GRACE, you will no longer even need balance. You will also find that, in giving yourself more grace, you will begin to give others more grace, too. Try it. Not just once. Many times. Over and over. GRACE. It’s there for you.
Share, my Heroes, how you give yourself GRACE. Perhaps there are many ways you can gift yourself grace….share them all. We need to learn from the grace you give yourselves.
Have a GRACE-FILLED week, my Heroes,
Lora Ackermann
GRACE-Giving Hero Trainer