“Give Grace”
As a self-proclaimed “Type A” overachiever; a first born daughter to African parents; and an immigrant in the US and the pressures to succeed that all these bring. I feel like I have had to work three times as hard to attain the level of success that I have in my chosen profession and country.
As I have stepped into leadership roles in my work life and in my community, I found that (and been told that), I am good at seeing the big picture and identifying steps out of crisis situations. People I have had work and personal relationships with have said that I have a way of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel long before others do; and the ability to give others grace and hold space for them while they process the crisis of the moment. I have not always been as kind to myself.
In 2019, I met Shawntan Howell at a year long leadership institute we both attended. The most striking thing from that experience with Shawntan was her ability to connect with aspects of my life and open me up to the possibility of what giving myself grace would look like. I am reminded every time I think of or connect with Shawntan that as a black woman in America I need to first and foremost ‘give myself grace’. In my interactions with others now, I strive to pass the lesson to others reminding them “to first give themselves grace and always look to give others grace”.
Give grace, reminds me of my favorite quote: “Be kind for everyone is fighting a hard battle”.
