Chapter 1

 Practicing Grace

Grace is a word with multiple meanings. For our purposes, they all apply. Grace can be a sense of effortless flow, beauty, generosity, mercy, or elegance. It can be a charming manner. Grace is a description of how you can interact in the world; it signifies a form of higher plane behavior that is rarely attainable with consistency.  

The process of attaining Grace is an evolution. Like the most elusive fantasy, you have a moment when you think you have it. Suddenly you lose your balance over something that even you can see is silly. 

The enemy of Grace is fear. Even the most controlled and cool-headed executive in the most complicated of deals may be operating from fear. As he or she moves through the sequence of steps, the only evidence of that person’s lack of Grace may be in the result. The fears may be subtle, even subliminal, but the outcomes, to the trained observer, will often betray the hidden fears. 

Responding optimally to the daily interference in our desires or dreams by others or by events requires practice; a lot of practice. Your responses to daily threats builds a skill set which permits you to interact in an easy, flowing manner in all situations.  

If these skills are performed frequently and thoughtfully, your ability to manage the tougher, more significant events in a flowing manner is enhanced. If you do not challenge yourself to a high standard of response on a daily basis, it is less likely that you will perform ideally in real crisis. 

To achieve Grace, one must be prepared to let go of control and refrain from overplaying the hand which has been dealt. For most individuals, this is the most challenging discipline to develop. Like the well-trained quarterback who knows exactly how long to hold on to the ball to enhance the odds of success, we need to learn the timing and strategy of achieving a long-term result. We must be able to do so even when we are watching the freight train rushing toward us.   

                                         The Three Fundamentals 

In order to learn the practice of Grace, we must break it into manageable components.  

There are three fundamentals vital to interacting with Grace. It is these three fundamentals which help you to elude the repetitive cycle of fear. They are often elusive in the height of battle. Mastery of the three fundamentals requires conditioning. The three essentials are Confidence, Clarity, and Trust. Imagine a Venn diagram with three circles labeled Confidence, Clarity and Trust. Assume that to execute with Grace you must operate within the intersection of the three circles. The greater the stakes, the more difficult it is to find that optimal balance of (A) Confidence, (B) Clarity and (C) Trust. 

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