patience and grace

two words that are hard to live out sometimes

two words that i am blessed to have extended to me

daily

by my dear loving husband

two words that i need and want to extend to others

oh

how tricky is this yo-yo life of living with others

how tough it is to remain constant, unchanging

solidly grounded

when the emotions and behaviours and attitudes

leap and jump and spin and tumble

all around me

all the time

add to that any sort of external stressor

and there is the makings for

a whole lot of conflict

but instead

slowly and steadily,

sometimes moment by moment

i am trying to choose to respond

with patience and grace

remembering that anything we are experiencing

any situation

is temporary and organic and is going to

look very different even moments later

responding with patience and grace

allows for relationships to remain unbroken

for tempers to remain calm

and for words not to have to be taken back

because really,

who likes to have to take words back?

i need to have an anchor

something that grounds me solidly to

my truest understanding of myself

and

i need to ensure that i am really

truly not going to be tossed here and there

by the fluctuating behaviours and words of others.

i wish it were as easy as it sounds.