Grace and God, Grounding, and Going

Welcome to Post 2 on my discoveries into grace, my word for 2022. I’ve been thinking about where grace comes from. I’m currently defining “grace” as giving awareness to space and time, thinking and feeling. This definition is slightly different from my first grace post, where I announced grace as my word for the year. I am defining, decoding, and doing my best to apply grace to myself and others this year.

Where does grace start?

I grew up in a non-denominational, Christian home. I was taught faith/God Himself directs life. Grace was a part of that, with God as the source of time/space and thinking/feeling. YET I like to believe I direct some of my paths. I don’t know how much of life I can control (perhaps some of my thoughts and feelings but probably not all of them), but I can control what I do/how I receive those thoughts and feelings. And I can do my best to give and receive grace, in the forms of kindness and thoughtfulness.

How can I apply grace to life work?

As I discussed in my intro to grace content, I am applying grace to different themes and topics, all with words that start with each letter of the word “grace.” So let’s begin:

G in “grace” is for God.

“God” means different things to me. As as an adult-type person, I am still not sure what/who “God” means. Currently, I believe God is the source of grace. God provides goodness and light; beginnings and endings; life and maybe even death.

How do I apply grace to God?

If God is the giver of grace, I can be the receiver, too, if I am open to it. If I receive grace, perhaps I can give it back? I am working on this kind of reciprocal karma. If karma is energy, and one of my life goals is to give good energy as much as possible, good energy can include grace.

But even as an overall considerate-of-others person, giving grace can be SO hard. I often give grace (ie, giving time, space, and awareness) to others before myself. I am a helper type, after all. Grace can be difficult if the person I am trying to give grace to is not aware of my intended energy (what’s that phrase on intentions vs. actions?) Who is that a reflection of? Probably both parties. Which leads me to…

Applying “grace” to “grounding.”

G in GRACE is for grounding: I am happy to share that I am working on my intuitive side. As an INFJ, I am finally learning what “intuitive” (the N) means to me. Right now, it means listening to my gut. There is up and coming research on the gut’s systems for learning and processing.

The gut helps with trust. The gut senses. And as I learn more, the gut is also a source of my senses. So, I am paying attention to my body, with a focus on grace and grounding:

• I am giving grace to myself, by recognizing some senses are weak (ie, I have one near-sighted eye and one far-sighted eye and have trouble with hearing)
• My companions are giving me grace by highlighting senses I enjoy using, ie, I enjoyed some of the most amazing pretzels I’ve ever had this week (pictured)
• I am helping companions become more aware that I appreciate the sense of touch. I can ‘feel’ them, physically and mentally, such as holding their hand, if they’re comfortable with this touch (consent!)
• I am starting some meetings at work with 0:30 second ‘gut’ and ‘grounding’ checks, ie, starting the meeting with a deep breath in and out to give time/space for good energy, before we keep ‘going’ and move onto the next thing, and the next thing, which leads to…

Applying “grace” to “going”

I have written extensively on my “Kaylie can’t sit still” attitude/behavior patterns (such as my vulnerable Covid post, “is stillness possible during craziness?” in April 2020). Constantly “going” is my main mode. I am happiest when my brain, body, and soul (#wip) are going.

So when do I find time to “ground” vs. “go”?

I am applying both concepts of “grounding” and “going” to one of my favorite activities, running. It starts with situational awareness of time and space, such as taking mental pictures of my run’s starting point, ie, landmarks and cross streets. The other day, a 6-mile run became a 9-mile run because I focused less on my starting point versus the actual, sunshiny day. However, I LOVED running in the warmth, in a shared exercise space. All cities need such a space where people can come together to do their own thing, in spaces meant for them (pictured: I am running in the pedestrian-only lane). I gave myself time to enjoy watching the sun set, as well. The main image of this blog post is from that very run.

As I am learning cross streets near my new home in Colorado, I was able to cruise in my car… without using my phone’s map app! It’s a goal of mine to get less dependent on maps and more focused on self-trust, whether it’s giving myself time to relax or more time to get from Point A to Point B. So both running and cruising, in abandonment of destinations, are great ways to give “grace” to “going.”

How can I respect the balance of “going” and “grounding”?

Giving grace to both “going” and “grounding” means I will expand my senses of intuition, trust, time, and space. For example, I am expanding my radius of where I explore, enjoying time anywhere from 60 minutes – 2 hours away from my home. I’m excited to go to the hot springs for the first time ever this weekend. I am aware that since this is my first visit, my expectations are high. I am trying to apply grace to this novelty. I’ll be with a loving person, in a new space. I trust him, and he trusts me. However, we are mere mortals, so grace means giving each other time with (and away from) each other. Time is truly the best gift.

If I love to “go”, and am working on “grounding”, I also must try to trust in God. I am working on giving myself grace. I am learning, I am growing. While I struggle with self-patience, I give grace (the gifts of time and space!) to others, so I can learn to respect myself, too.

Over to you, how do you give yourself grace? What or who is (or are) your source(s) of grace? Please share with a comment. I’ll see you on February 20^th, where I’ll continue diving into the various G’s of GRACE.