ABBY’S CORNER | Grace
Finding Grace In Gratitude
A very Happy Thanksgiving to you and kick-off to the Holidays! Festive music surrounds us now, decorations, family gatherings, and shopping! Stop the Press!! For many of us, the “traditional” holiday does not look or feel the same, as a matter of fact, it feels quite lonely, confusing, anxious, and just downright WRONG! You’re questioning your emotions and even who you are as a person. I know, because I feel the same. So, you ask, “Abby, what do we do?”
I have struggled with the word “GRACE” when it comes to myself and my own self-care. I took the time to really examine the word and this is what I came up with through the lens of Gratitude:
G – Giving
Giving myself permission to grieve. We put so much pressure on ourselves to feel happy. I mean, I get it! I want to be happy, sitting in our grief is yucky and messy, but sometimes you just need to sit in it and let it take you over, see where you feel it.
What emotions come up in your grief? I have put it in my head that if I sit in grief it will make things worse and that scares me. I am the friend holding your hand right now telling you that you do not have to be afraid of your emotions and that grief, although massively uncomfortable, is also healthy if you are aware of its presence and how it is showing up for you. This brings me to the next letter.
R – Respect
Respect your feelings. If I look at my emotions through the lens of Gratitude I found I have a level of respect for them. I am able to give myself the courage to sit with them and go deeper to the root of what is triggering the feeling. Respecting your feelings means you are respecting yourself. I find this to be very powerful! It gives me a sense of control in the middle of the mess!
A – Acknowledge
Acknowledge. Now that we are all sitting together in our mess of emotions let’s be honest with ourselves and call it! Acknowledging coupled with respect gives validation. I am BOLDLY claiming the facts and I am better able to process the disaster that I am feeling. Think of it as sitting in a room where all the files exploded out of the filing cabinet and now you have to put them back, but this is where it gets exciting, you can find out which files you want to keep and the ones you can send to the shredder!
C – Curiosity
Curiosity. When you switch over to a place of curiosity, you are able to remove the emotion and examine why or what is causing the emotions. For me, I was able to take a positive look as to why I was feeling all this and able to ask myself, “Why do I allow this situation or past event to take over me?” I can get my mind in a place that is healthy and ready to take on the emotional workout.
E – Evolution
Evolution. Moving into a space of emotional health is transforming! I may be sitting in the mess, but in the clean-up, I am able to keep growing and healing along the way! Evolving into the person I want to be and understand that sadness and happiness can harmoniously be together!
With a Heart of Gratitude and Grace,
Abby
Image Description:
- Header – A photo of cupped palms holding a piece of cardboard with the word “grace” written on it.
- Grief – black & white photo of a woman with her head in her hands.
- Respect – black & white photo of a hand holding a butterfly.
- Acknowledge – black & white photo of messy files.
- Curiosity – black & white photo of a woman holding a magnifying glass up to her eye.
- Evolution – color photo of a woman leaning back with her eyes closed and hands under her head and a content expression on her face.