I hope the title of this has grabbed your attention. If it did, I implore you to continue reading. I\u2019m 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\u2019m 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\u2019t deserve it. Wow. The hardest part of extending grace is that last part. \u201cEven when they don\u2019t deserve it.\u201d Am I right? You know I am.\u00a0 I bet if I asked you for a show of hands \u201chave you ever been done wrong by a co-worker, a family member, your spouse, a friend or a loved one\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
So, what do we do if we get done wrong? Get mad? Retaliate? That\u2019s definitely what I want to do. You know why? Because I\u2019m 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\u2019t and I\u2019m no different than any of you.<\/p>\n
Have you ever had a bad day? A day when nothing goes right?\u00a0 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\u2019ve all been there in one way or another. I\u2019ve been a jerk before, no doubt but I\u2019m big enough to go apologize for my actions. The great thing about this is the person I wronged did something extraordinary\u2026 they smiled at me. Why? Because they had already extended grace. Did I deserve it? Absolutely not. But they did it anyway.<\/p>\n
What I\u2019m getting at here is that we all fail. We all fall short. We all screw up. However you want to say it, we\u2019re 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\u2019s pride. We all have pride in us and there\u2019s no escaping it. But you know what? Sometimes we have to swallow that pride and be the bigger person. Ugghh!! That\u2019s not what I wanted to hear you say Eddie! Believe me, I\u2019m writing this as much to myself as I am to you.<\/p>\n
You never know what is going on in someone\u2019s life. They could be dealing with issues at home that you and I\u00a0 couldn\u2019t even imagine having to deal with. Marital problems, depression, thoughts of suicide, a death in the family, finances, teenagers!<\/p>\n
You. Never. Know.<\/p>\n
If you have read this far into my ramblings, I hope I have conveyed my message to you. It\u2019s simple, and it\u2019s this: Take a deep breath, be the bigger person, swallow your pride and extend grace. You\u2019ll be glad you did because one day you\u2019ll need it extended to you.<\/p>\n
-eddie-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I hope the title of this has grabbed your attention. If it did, I implore you to continue reading. I\u2019m going off of my normal rails of talking about fire protection and fire and life safety in this article for… Continue Reading