I wake up to grace every day the moment I realize I am still here. I am in control of this body of mine. I have choice in everything I do, and choice in how I respond to the world around me.
Waking up to grace doesn’t involve angels singing or me floating through life, but it does mean that I wake up and think, “I have this day, so what am I going to do with it? How will I make it special?”
Most days, it includes making time for gratitude. I am grateful for my amazing little girl, for time to exercise, for my yoga practice, for time outside, for food on my table, for a roof over my head, for an amazing community of friends, and for a career I am blessed to have.
When I make time to feel grateful, grace seems to flow with abundance. I am more patient, more generous, more considerate, more caring, and more loving toward myself.
When I forget to find time for gratitude, I tend to be more rushed. I have a serious lack of patience, I blame others for my experiences, I am less forthcoming with my time and I forget how blessed I am to have all that I do in my life.
Those days are rude awakenings for me. They remind me that I have become absorbed in things that distract me from love and the grace of living.
It is because of this that those are days are also very important. They give me perspective, a mirror to remind myself that I have a choice: I can choose to travel down the dark road of despair, or I can choose to see the beauty around me.
Sometimes it takes me days to shake myself out of my own darkness – in the past it has taken me months or years – but when I do manage it, I find a lightness that chases out the shadows, and I remember how the simple practice of gratitude can always unfailingly wake me up to grace.
So what are you grateful for today?
Pay attention to all the moments of your day, even the ones that aren’t so comfortable, and discover how a shift in perspective can lead you to feel grateful for all that you have created in your life. EVERYTHING can change.
Find your Grace.
with love, Noelle
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