I hope the title of this has grabbed your attention. If it did, I implore you to continue reading. I’m going off of my normal rails of talking about fire protection and fire and life safety in this article for just a minute. Even though, what I’m going to be talking about can be used by you on a daily basis with your job. What I would like to talk about this time is grace. Grace is defined as courteous goodwill or showing compassion, generosity, understanding or forgiveness towards others even when they don’t deserve it. Wow. The hardest part of extending grace is that last part. “Even when they don’t deserve it.” Am I right? You know I am. I bet if I asked you for a show of hands “have you ever been done wrong by a co-worker, a family member, your spouse, a friend or a loved one” everyone of you reading this would raise your hand. You may even raise both hands and maybe even a foot if you can. I know I can for sure.
So, what do we do if we get done wrong? Get mad? Retaliate? That’s definitely what I want to do. You know why? Because I’m human. Nobody likes to be done wrong. Nobody likes to be let down. Nobody likes to be talked down to or yelled at. I know I sure don’t and I’m no different than any of you.
Have you ever had a bad day? A day when nothing goes right? Your spouse has pissed you off, you got cut off in traffic on the way to work and then there was a wreck which made you late to work? You walk into the office and someone agitates you right off of the bat and you snap at them? We’ve all been there in one way or another. I’ve been a jerk before, no doubt but I’m big enough to go apologize for my actions. The great thing about this is the person I wronged did something extraordinary… they smiled at me. Why? Because they had already extended grace. Did I deserve it? Absolutely not. But they did it anyway.
What I’m getting at here is that we all fail. We all fall short. We all screw up. However you want to say it, we’re all human. We all want to receive grace from others but why is it so hard to offer it? For me, the answer is simple, it’s pride. We all have pride in us and there’s no escaping it. But you know what? Sometimes we have to swallow that pride and be the bigger person. Ugghh!! That’s not what I wanted to hear you say Eddie! Believe me, I’m writing this as much to myself as I am to you.
You never know what is going on in someone’s life. They could be dealing with issues at home that you and I couldn’t even imagine having to deal with. Marital problems, depression, thoughts of suicide, a death in the family, finances, teenagers!
You. Never. Know.
If you have read this far into my ramblings, I hope I have conveyed my message to you. It’s simple, and it’s this: Take a deep breath, be the bigger person, swallow your pride and extend grace. You’ll be glad you did because one day you’ll need it extended to you.
-eddie-
