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The Art of Giving Yourself Grace

Grace, like light, is a stunning duality: it is gentleness and strength at the same time

Ria Tagulinao
Age of Empathy
8 min readDec 27, 2024

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San Vicente, Palawan sunset | 2019 | Photo from the author

A junior colleague and I were debriefing a presentation when she, eyes cast downward, said, “I’m trying to give myself grace”.

Our clients were dissatisfied with the presentation, and so was my colleague with herself. New to the brief, she was still familiarizing herself with it. But altogether, the whole team struggled and groped our way through solving it. Still, she felt bad thinking that despite her best efforts, she failed to manage the way she hoped she would.

It’s a hard pill to swallow: even if we give something our best shot, we still miss the mark.

When that happens, how do you extend yourself grace?

How do you stop reprimanding, judging, punishing yourself for falling short of expectations, whether they’re someone else’s or your own? How do you give yourself a break or cut yourself some slack or stop beating yourself up or be kind to yourself or whatever it is they say to console you?

When I began writing during the pandemic — unemployed, stuck indoors, with all the time in the world — I fired out as many as four posts weekly. Today I struggle to publish one newsletter in a month. It’s depressing to think…

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Age of Empathy
Age of Empathy

Published in Age of Empathy

We publish high-quality personal essays, humor essays, and writer interviews. Our goal is to provide a place for experienced writers to share authentic stories and connect with others, collectively celebrating a common passion, striving toward an age of empathy.

Ria Tagulinao
Ria Tagulinao

Written by Ria Tagulinao

Fun-sized Filipina Writer | To stay up-to-date with my work, here's my Sunday newsletter: http://riatagulinao.substack.com

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