Do it With Grace

It's easy to go through the motions. To do what you're doing today out of repetition, without much thought. Just checking the box and moving on.

But that's a shortcut. And it's a mistake.

An acquaintance of mine shared a lesson her mom used to tell her, so often it felt like it was said every day: "Do it with grace or don't do it at all."

I've never forgotten it. Because it elevates any action from ordinary to intentional. From routine to meaningful. It's cut from the same cloth as one of my favorite Martin Luther King quotes: "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry."

That is working with grace. Regardless of what the work is or if anyone sees it. What matters is that you know you did it with grace. You know you did it to the best of your ability. The contrast can be subtle, but it’s there.

Without grace, you send the email fast just to get it off your plate. With grace, you take thirty extra seconds to make sure the tone is right.
Without grace, you show up to the meeting physically, but mentally, you're somewhere else. With grace, you're present, you're listening, and the people in the room can feel it.
Without grace, you rush through the bedtime routine because you're exhausted. With grace, you slow down and remember it won't always be there.

The difference in each of those isn't talent. Its intention.

I don't know what your day looks like today. But if you're going to do it, do it with grace. Because how you do anything is how you do everything.

❝

How you do anything is how you do everything.