What does it mean to “fall from grace/” I suppose it depends on how you define ‘grace,’ as it can have multiple meanings.
It can simply refer to a pleasing or favorable quality; or to God’s love; to elegance of movement; a prayer before a meal; a period of time granted to fulfill an obligation… So you see, there are many ways to fall from grace.
Losing status, respect, or prestige injures our egos. Losing a job, a relationship, an important contract, or failing a test can leave us crushed and feeling sorry for ourselves, but this can if we allow it. I think that can be the hard part. We tend to get stuck in how we feel about something, then find it difficult to let it go (as Elsa sings) and move on to more positive thoughts and feelings.
After all, our thoughts really do dictate our feelings. It’s all up to us to rise from within. Nobody else can do it for us — each one of us has to take on the work. I realize for some this can be harder than for others, but the same still holds true.
I suppose I fell from grace after dissolving my Dance Centre, ending 37 of teaching ballet and gymnastics. As I age, my once graceful body and limbs feel less and less so. It’s quite humbling, but I’m continually trying to make peace with it.
And I guess another time I fell from grace was when I decided to major in Dance at SDSU instead of math or science like my parents expected. The result being that I had to fund most of college myself. But probably the worst kind of descent is when we disappoint ourselves and know that we haven’t done our best.
The times I went against my better judgement and did something that someone else assured me was fine, left me kicking myself for not trusting or not following my own intuition. Like when my husband assured me that the snake right outside the door was a rattler, so the poor gopher snake died needlessly. Or when he convinced me that his ‘hairbrained’ route somewhere ended up making us over two hours late.
Poor guy, I’ll try not to pick on him. Sometimes it can be uncomfortable to not go along with someone else’s idea, but important to do so anyway. Better to stop and think before reacting, then there’ll be less to feel guilty about.
Holding grudges is another one of those things. They don’t do us any good. They often don’t make any difference to the other person. Therefore, the only one they have any real effect on is ourselves. It brings our energy down and we fall from grace — over and over and over again. Every time we think about it.
In a lot of ways, animals can be light years ahead of us, at least in the way some of them handle their outward emotions. I when my mom was nearing the end of her life and confined to her bed. Referring to her dogs, she often commented how much better they were at being in the present moment. “They’re so accepting of whatever is.”
She was wishing she could be more like that and not have such fear. Don’t we all?
To me, it seems that living with grace goes hand-in-hand with being grateful — all the time. It elevates the mood and makes us and those around us smile. I’m trying to hold this in mind as much as I can, especially when things happening around me make that difficult.
Stop, take a deep breath, the things I have to be grateful for, and elevate myself above whatever situation is pulling me down. Anyway, that’s what I’m striving for. Does anyone want to in?
Chi Varnado has published six books including fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. They are available on www.amazon.com. Her collection of essays, Quail Mutterings, can be found on www.chivarnado.com or www.dancecentrepresents.com.
