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Grace Is a Gift:

Having Grace in your life makes everything so much easier.  The beautiful thing is we don’t have to be or do anything to experience Grace.  Grace is a gift.

No Drama Needed:

Even though I know this now, there was a time in my life when I was clueless about Grace.  In this blog, I share a dramatic experience of how I came to allow Grace to flow through my life.  The truth is no drama is needed.  There are three simple principles you can use, right now, to become more open to the Grace that is in and around you all the time. 

Life Opportunity and/or Challenge:

Let’s wind the clock back to the summer of 1987.  Picture the New Jersey turnpike with six packed lanes of northbound traffic.  I was right smack in the middle of the traffic.  My brown Honda Civic station wagon was packed to the brim because I was moving from the eastern shore of Virginia to New York.  I worked for the National Park Service as a Park Ranger and had just accepted a new position at Fire Island National Seashore, off the coast of Long Island. 

YIKES!

As I pondered the dramatic life-change I was in the midst of making, I noticed a tailpipe detach from the cab of a rust bucket construction vehicle up ahead on the right.  It was headed straight for my windshield!  Every concerning thought I had about the move vaporized in an instant.  With wide eyes, my body in full alert mode, I quickly checked my rearview mirrors.  

The traffic lanes on each side of my car appeared to have morphed into high-speed bumper cars, moving about 60-70 mph with very little space between cars.  Getting into another lane was clearly not an option.  I had no place to go.  Even with my hands firmly clutching the steering wheel, I surrendered my situation. 

Surrendering to What Is:

Throwing my figurative hands up in the air, I cried aloud. “What do I do now?”  It was the closest thing to a prayer I’d said in over a decade.  

Even when the tailpipe was three feet directly in front of my windshield, heading straight for my heart, I felt a sense of peace fill me.  There was absolutely nothing left for me to do in that moment.

The Miracle of Surrender:

Then, as if I were viewing a slow-motion movie, I noticed a gust of wind blow the tailpipe off to the left, gouging the frame of my car at the edge of my windshield.  I watched in the rearview mirror as the tailpipe bounced SAFELY thru two lanes of traffic.  It landed on the side of the road, without harming anyone.  

The Power of Prayer:

When I stopped on the side of the road behind the old construction vehicle, the first thing the driver said to me was “I am SO glad you are OK.  I watched the whole thing through my rearview mirror and prayed that no one would get hurt.”

Grace Is Always Already Here:

Within months, I had an experience where I could feel the Presence of God in my Life, something I had lost in my childhood.  I began to take baby steps to explore my spirituality.  As I did, I realized that I had experienced a moment of Pure Grace.  I decided that there were some simple principles I could apply to everyday living, with much less drama, to open to Grace at all times.  We can’t make Grace happen; it truly is a gift.  We can, however, be open and available to it.  

Loving Awareness:

First, be willing to pause for a moment and become aware of your present reality.  How much effort are you placing on creating it, or something different?  Notice all this with as much love and kindness toward yourself as you can muster, without any attempt to change anything!  

For me, at that time, I was a single gal in my early thirties, eager to find a life partner and start a family.  I was putting a great deal of effort into a move that I thought would increase my chances of meeting the right guy.  Alas, I wasn’t totally thrilled with the idea of living in such a densely populated area.  When I first saw the tailpipe heading toward me and my car, though, all thoughts of anything else disappeared.  I later realized how refreshing that had been.  

Simple Surrender:

Secondly, embrace the idea of simple surrender — of allowing your present reality to just be what it is, without any attachment to it, or to something different.  As the tailpipe was headed for my windshield, I experienced a moment where absolutely no effort on my part was even possible.

I had to surrender and when I did, I felt such a sense of peace and freedom.  It lured me into wanting to know more.  If that feeling was possible in one of the most intense moments I have ever experienced, in a moment where death was a likely outcome, could it also be possible in everyday life? 

Trusting the Universe:

The third principle is trusting in a benevolent Universe.  This one came to me over time as I continued my spiritual journey.  Years later, I heard this Albert Einstein quote, “The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile Universe.”

I reflected back on my tailpipe experience and realized that being spared an untimely and dramatic death was truly benevolence in action.  I decided to more consciously adopt the belief that I live in a friendly Universe and that decision has made a big difference for me.  

Grace Is a Wind That Is Always Blowing:

These three principles — loving awareness, simple surrender, and trusting in the benevolence of the Universe — have allowed me to open more and more each day to the gift of Grace in my life, in both big and small ways.  One of my favorite descriptions of Grace comes from the 19^th century Indian mystic, Ramakrishna:

“The Grace of God is a wind which is always blowing.” 

What about you?  Have you experienced moments of Grace in your life? If so, how has this changed you? 

What could you be, or what could you do, to be in touch with Grace all the time?

I invite you to continue exploring The Art of Ease and Grace with me in future blogs. 

• If you would like to get an email notification when future blogs are posted, please click HERE to join my mailing list.  At this time, my audio blogs are only available by email. 

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~ Carol McNulty-Huffman,

Best-Selling Author & Inspirational Speaker

artofeaseandgrace.com

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A Peek at My Next Blog Post:

Pain Pushes while Vision Pulls

• Your vision will manifest more easily and gracefully if you allow it to unfold, rather than push or force it forward.
• Join us next month to explore ideas for bringing more ease and grace into your life, especially when you have decisions to make.  
      

Summary of the Three Keys:

• The three keys to living with ease and grace are Vision, Vibration and Grace.  Vision is about setting a vision for the long-term or an intention for the short-term.  Vibration is about stepping into the Vibration of that Vision, so that it can easily manifest.  Grace is a wind that is always blowing — a power flowing through our experience more and more as we open to receive it.  

• The fact is these keys are already at work in our lives, whether we are aware of it or not!  Noticing these keys allows us to access them more consciously and use them to create a life of greater ease, grace, and flow.

• To learn more about Vibration Click HERE

• To learn more about Vision Click HERE

• To learn about the Birth of this Blog, and releasing regret, click HERE

We are continuing our conversation about the art of ease and grace, between blog posts, in my private Facebook group (Art of Ease and Grace). Click HERE to request entry. You can also email me at carol@theartofeaseandgrace.com or send a message through Messenger to make that happen.

If you would like to get an email notification when future blogs are posted, please click HERE to join my mailing list.

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