My Year of Grace

By Christine Rose copyright 2010

I am sitting on one of the little white benches that frames the doorway of the brick house I have recently moved from. It is a pretty house. I sanded and painted the original antique window shutters the same blue as the enormous hydrangea puff balls that are currently blooming. Their beauty is surpassed only by the coral color of May's climbing roses, whose huge blooms dot the arched white trellis that was the entry to my home.  I moved the fence back so the neighbors could enjoy my garden.  I put up the tall picket fence myself, poured the concrete, and set the stakes.  I laid the pale bricks that led to my door.  

The exterior of my home was lovely, but it is time to move on. 

 I am a sturdy, 5'3 fair skinned woman, starting to tip the scales towards 60 (if thats really possible), who took a lot of care with the outside of my home.  Yet I will admit, I tended far less carefully to the interior. I am also very spiritual, so I am hoping the analogy did not extend to my personal house, my body, home of my spirit. But maybe it did. Yeah, it did.

Which brings me to the first entry to my blog, My Year of Grace. I wish I could be writing in hindsight, but when I look over my shoulder, it is not a lot of grace that I see I've left in my path. I know that it isn't what we did in the past that counts, so much as the way we forge ahead that is important. The idea is to Try Harder, to climb the ladder of self improvement one rung at a time. So this blog is going to chart my attempts to raise myself to a higher level. But I can't do it alone. I am looking for teachers, muses and guides, and I believe everyone I know falls under that category, in one way or another. I had thought I might do this for a year, but the fact is, it is going to take longer then that, so lets just say I am taking on the challenge of my lifetime.  If you are taking on similar challenges, feel free to share your experiences.

Welcome to the first entry of My Life of Grace.