Back at it again with a MONDAY MANTRA. Woo woo! I was woken up this morning by an INSANE downpour…when it rains, it pours, I guess? It’s mornings like these when I’m EXTRA grateful for working from home and not *actually* having to leave the house when it’s this friggin’ wet. Ha! ‘Tis the season for April showers? ANYHOO. I had mentioned last week about being in a ~funk~. I was in one and in one bad, and TBH…I didn’t know why. At first, that is.
Then I think I thunk it.
I was giving myself NO grace. I was feeling underwhelmed by my routine – things that typically I lovelovelove and feel GRATEFUL for, if anything – and overwhelmed by all of the ideas and what-if’s and maybes that were filling my brain. And soon, it became a not-so-good pity party of one, feeling guilty for feeling badly and then feeling even more overwhelmed from the guilt on top of the overwhelm, stress, and other random anxiety.
Ain’t nobody got time.
Too often, we’re just too damn hard on ourselves.
You need to…
Give Yourself Grace mug HERE
The hardest thing for me to grapple with grace is its kryptonite: perfectionism.
Perfectionism kills grace.
Me being an overachieving, Type A perfectionist usually means that I’m the actual worst at giving myself grace. Or, I can give myself grace in the moment…but the unintended consequence means internalizing something as a failure instead of as a grace-given moment. No bueno. I’ll use past tense for the following since my therapist back in the day told me to do so – ha! (Sidenote: She always said to use the past tense since we have the ability to recreate + better ourselves every single moment and are not defined by our pasts – isn’t that cool?!) If in the midst of being so caught up in my work, Jamie throws in a load of laundry and/or Swiffers the kitchen floor – I’d consider myself a crappy wife in that moment instead of giving myself grace and just appreciating the fact that I’ve got a bombdotcom husband. After a packed day of work projects, hopping between my inbox and Instagram while shooting or being on calls, and some message inevitably was answered late – I’d tell myself that I’m a terrible blogger, suck at my job, and don’t deserve to be doing what I’m doing for a living.
Isn’t that escalation just insane?
Looking back with clarity + hindsight, it seems like a no brainer. Both are untrue statements in their respective scenarios, and both lead to unnecessary sadness, anxiety, + blatant depression if left untreated with graceful fingers. But in the moment, when it feels oh so real, it can be hella hard to keep level-headed and give ourselves grace instead of hammering down on why we’re not smarter, faster, prettier, better.
And I think we all face situations like that.
We fall short on something we feel like we shouldn’t, and it turns into this bigger thing – this negative spiral of bad thoughts and blatant LIES that we tell ourselves in those moments. And these, in turn, damage our self-worth, lessen our self-love, and keep us further from our best self.
Give yourself grace.
Let yourself mess up + make mistakes – just learn from them.
Let yourself feel bad – just actively work on feeling better again.
Let yourself fall down – just get back up.
Whether it’s a momentary setback or blah time (just feelin’ funky on a given Tuesday, etc), or a bigger, more unchangable roadblock (a death of someone close to you, etc), give yourself grace to get through it in its due time. Don’t let feelings change the facts of who you are, Whose you are, and the inherit worth you have as a beautiful, blessed, BOSS human being.
Understand that – while it might not always feel like it when scrolling your Instagram feed – nobody’s perfect. Seriously.
Know that you’re not alone. Ever.
Trust that everything happens for a reason, and your reason might not be known, comfortable, easy, and/or all of the above right now (slash ever).
At the end of the day, the King of Kings gives you and me grace endlessly, day after day and time after time. We don’t deserve it – He does it because of who HE is and not who WE are. So if He can give you grace…you can (+ should) give yourself grace, too.
Grace is longer than the rest of your to-do list and taller than your Starbucks order on the middle of a Wednesday.
Grace is enough.
Give yourself grace.
How can you give yourself grace this week – more than before? What’s your Monday Mantra?
I’d loveloveLOVE to hear it below, if you’re willing to share + be vulnerable. How can you give MORE grace in your own life, where you might not have otherwise given it?
P.S. More Monday Mantra postss here!
Thanks for reading, friends. Go make it happen this week.
