Give yourself some damn grace.
Grace Starts with You
“How could I not see who he was??? He was a monster but I fell all over myself trying to please him and make him love me! God I’m such an idiot!” Your friend is distraught.
You try to soothe her. “Babe, you were deceived. You did nothing wrong. You are so generous and giving and loving. You were trying to see the best in him. Give yourself some grace.”
Grace. Sounds like a religious word. It can be, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s actually really important for health and happiness. Everybody’s health and happiness. Grace for others is key, yes, but the first order of business is to give grace to yourself.
We are seeing a lot of nastiness in the current social/political/global climate. Grace-less-ness. That hostility seems to be directed towards others, but we know it starts on the inside. It starts with shame and cruel voices in our head that love to point out our so-called shortcomings.
“I’m so lazy. Why can’t I ever finish anything I start?”
“I always choose the wrong partners! I’m a moron!”
“I have no willpower and these giant thighs prove it!”
The sick part, friends, is those thoughts aren’t benign. They put frowns on our faces, heaviness in our hearts, and bitterness in our interactions. They do nothing for us but send us out into the world beaten down. And beaten down, insecure, sad, angry people are in no place to change the world for the better. Right? That’s why, in order to change the world, we’ve got to start with our own hearts. We’ve got to start with grace. For ourselves.
What does that even look like? It looks like showing yourself the same compassion and generosity you would show your dearest friends when they are tired, stressed, angry, lonely, heartbroken, run-down, or confused.
“I’ve been struggling to get stuff done. I must be tired. I will take a day off to get caught up.”
“My heart has been through a lot lately. But I can still feel it beating. How amazing.”
“I’m so glad that I enjoyed that ice cream last night AND my workout this morning. It feels great to have balance.”
Dear one, we want you to LOVE yourself for your forgetfulness, your sensuality, your poor spelling, your softness, your procrastination habits… Whatever it is that has always bothered you about yourself, dump heaps and heaps of grace on ALL OF IT! Acknowledge all you’ve done and how far you’ve come. Call yourself beautiful, uplifting names - daily! If your body needs rest, give her rest. We also recommend sliding a gorgeous piece of inspirational jewelry on your finger, wrist, or neck to help you a) feel pretty and b) not lose sight of the fact that you, first and foremost, are deserving of grace.
Here are a few pieces we love for this topic
“So fill your heart with what’s important… and be done with all the rest” Inspiration ring
You are perfect and enough. You were always perfect and enough. We at Pure Impressions are so proud to be a company who believes in the perfectly imperfect magic of humans. Every piece of handmade jewelry is designed with the intention to make life more beautiful for its wearer. So bring on the beauty. Bring on the grace. It starts with you.
“Give yourself compassion for what you did when your stress response was louder than your essence. Compassion isn’t meant to excuse the behavior, but there is value in being gentle with your own suffering.”
-We didn’t write this but borrowed it from Taylor Grismore at Wild Heart Movement. Perfectly said, right?
Until next time, be kind friends.
To yourself, and others.
xoxo, Laura & Kristen