Grace – Resilience – Initiate – Thought!
Whose GRIT is this??? Healthcare Executive, 38. Wife, daughter, sister, friend, god momma to 6. Virginia girl who moved to Canada for love, with GRIT ❣️
I delivered the eulogy at my father’s funeral, the eulogy for a man I loved, my father, who had killed himself … “our father was a humble, soft-spoken man, a man of relentless integrity, fortitude, grace, and character… we find comfort in knowing that our father is finally free. He was a brilliant man who had been trapped for so long. I think sometimes the human soul can only take so much, the fall of a man is tragic, and our father had a broken spirit … we can only hope the peace he was looking for he has found” (excerpts).
To paraphrase Hannah Gadsby from her “Nanette” Netflix comedy special – “… I tell you this not for pity and I am not a victim. I tell you this because my story has value, all of our stories have value.” I tell pieces of this story, because I believe that knowing me, my GRIT, is to know these experiences formed the bricks to my foundation – a foundation I have built my life and life decisions on – consciously or sub-consciously. Not just my physical life, but the life in my head and heart which influence how I think about the world, how I approach situations, and how I treat others. Whether the Knowing is a friend, or me Knowing myself.
I rarely changed my words but I really wrestled with “I”. It has been interesting to think through with the word choices … selecting the one that is more encompassing, but not too vague so that it really honours who you are but not too narrow or limiting in the power of the exercise. While delving into these questions, I realized that I can frame “Initiate” as an active beginning to drive towards a desired outcome, behavior, experience.
Because I think a lot through self-inquiry work (i.e., Thought), I didn’t struggle with this exercise. It took 10-15 mins … with the understanding that the “I-word” was still evolving … perhaps up to this very exercise. I really tried to be honest versus writing what I thought the “right answer” should be.
Taken from Know, Grow and Show Your GRIT! Self-Discovery Made Simple (pg. 127-129)
Audio version available on March 13th!
