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Why We Need to Give Ourselves Unconditional Grace
If you don’t, who will?
Do you find it hard to give yourself grace?
I have for the better part of my life. But last week, I gave myself grace—again and again. This simple self-kindness set me aglow with a healthy sense of pride.
My problem and need for grace began with a severe bout of nausea and abdominal pain. In my case, those symptoms relate to Hereditary Alpha Tryptasemia (HaT), which can cause an unusual type of small intestine inflammation.
I hadn’t had an outrageous flare like the current one since 2009 when I shrunk to 84 pounds. No medical professional could diagnose me at the time—HaT wasn’t officially recognized as a genetic anomaly until 2016.
Suddenly, eating (anything) caused nausea and abdominal pain that lasted all night long.
What did I do? For once, I gave myself grace.
We need to give ourselves unconditional grace
I’ve always been the person who worked constantly, regardless of illness.
A coworker once exploded at me for overworking. I couldn’t metabolize her criticism. My identity and value as a human being were inseparably entwined with my work. I couldn’t stop pushing myself whatever anyone else said.
My unrelenting, stressed-out workstyle eventually burned me out. It likely caused the severe physical symptoms I first experienced in 2004.
I would love to say I’ve miraculously changed and wholly embraced a slower pace in place of crazed living.
I have changed, and I have relaxed more, but my ingenious inner driver persists. She may be more subtle, but she hasn’t relented.
As you can imagine, I felt a sense of pride when I gave myself grace this time and was overjoyed when I resisted the pull to do more.
In an aha moment, I finally realized that if I don’t give myself unconditional grace, who will?
The many ways we can give ourselves grace
This new round of digestive distress sparked anxiety at first.
