My word for the year is embrace…embrace all the changes life has in store for me this year. But, maybe it should have been Grace.

Grace: The exercise of love, kindness, compassion, mercy, favor; disposition to benefit or serve another. 

We all have different ways of handling situations, different ways of handling emotions, different things that make us tick. I’ve found that nothing makes those differences stand out more glaringly than death, and serious health situations.

Some of us are practical and want to lay out the plan, the steps that need to be taken…check off the To Do list if you will.

Some of us worry and wring our hands…sort of come to a complete stop in life and let the worry and emotions flow through them.

Some of us deny, refuse to contemplate that the worst case scenario may be the reality.

And, others go directly to the doom and gloom…it’s the worst case scenario, and there’s no hope.

Others turn their back and stick their head in the sand, refusing to acknowledge or deal with.

I suppose the ideal would be to have a bit of all of the above in balanced measure…maybe that would make up the perfectly well rounded person.

What I’ve learned through two grandparents passing in recent history, and now in dealing with a serious health situation with my Dad is that it takes all types to get through the rough times. We need those that make it ok to cry, worry, fall apart, and while all that’s happening you need that person that is doing the research, taking care of the To Do List, keeping daily life running as needed.

The sad thing is when others react differently than we think they should, or handle things differently than we would it’s easy to get angry, discount that persons thoughts, opinions, and emotions.

Wouldn’t it be more productive to accept the differences, realize that we all care about the same thing…the person lost & our love for them…or getting our loved one through a scary situation. At the and of the day we are all on the same team, or at least we should be.

Perhaps Grace is the answer. Grace towards others, towards how they handle things, grace even when they get it wrong. I think there’s more strength in grace than anger & yelling. Not that I won’t fight if I need to, because I will, but when you’re in the thick of it, in the middle of appointments, test results, caring for a loved one it’s so much easier with grace in your heart than frustration.

Life in general is so much easier with Grace in your heart.