Tips Are Plentiful, Graces Are Few

We have a wealth of information like no other generation of women preceding us. With a swipe of a finger, I can have a solution for that stubborn stain on the couch or read a thousand reviews on the best mascara. I can meal plan like a boss and melt inches from my waistline in just weeks.

There seems to be this goal for streamlining life, doing more things in less time, by maximizing schedules, budget, resources, and even appearances. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good tip just like the next girl, and there is a beauty in sharing such knowledge of helpful remedies and solutions. But, I have also discovered that the pursuit of making life more efficient can perpetuate not only the prideful need for control, but a lack of grace with myself, because there is and ever will be an endless stream of people doing things better than me.

Life and its fullness can sometimes overwhelm, and having input for ways to cope better or work around the inevitable hiccups can certainly be encouraging. Sure, tips can offer assistance in getting ahead in some areas and even bring some significant victories to my day. However, the endless pursuit of making life more efficient, may not always make life easier.

I have also discovered that the pursuit of making life more efficient can perpetuate not only the prideful need for control, but a lack of grace with myself, because there is and ever will be an endless stream of people doing things better than me.

True grit and grace comes when living life without such accommodations. I think about those pioneering women hundreds of years ago, who lived off the land, often isolated. They must have been tenacious agents of experimentation, gatherers of wisdom through their trials and errors. There wasn’t a quick or immediate way around a task. There wasn’t access to pose their questions of survival to the global population and get an immediate answer.

Grit was acquired through the process of their labor, as must have been joy through the spontaneity of their discoveries.

Honestly, I don’t have many useful tips to share. In fact, I usually stumble and experiment my way through each day.

However, I do have life experiences which have led me to let go of the need to have the answers for every situation I encounter.

I still have stains on my couch, my mascara often runs, meal planning is sporadic, and I’m still accumulating unwanted inches to my waistline. I have plenty of tips within a finger’s reach to help me manage these issues on the surface, adding to the persona that I have things under control. Yet, tips are plentiful, shared graces are few.

I do not, ultimately, hold all things together on my own or with the help of any infinite online tips directory; not my marriage, my children, my house, my friendships, nor my physical body. And that’s okay. I’m not supposed to. That’s not my job.
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Be sure to read Be Imperfect, Be Inspiring and Drop The Social Media Cape.
#gritandgracelife