What Grace Means to Me

[Jennifer Martin 34]

I find this piece has a flow that might benefit by some creative enjambment and empahtics. Such as:

To be confident
...but not at all arrogant
To be... Brave but,
not <i>fearless<i>

And that's just playing with it. The length would actually permit a mirror image of enjambment. Justifying one half from the left and the other from the right if you wanted to play with form. I believe even grace can be communicated or shaped into the form if you move to structure it!!

[Vitoria Batista]

you wrote the ideal to reflect and mirror yourself, this should reach people!

[Yulia Barrientos]

"Choosing to change your life before it’s too late and there’s no more life to change" is an excellent phrase to end a poem, even though the entire poem itself speaks about being balanced in an intelligent way, making the journey toward who we want to become as comforting as possible. It’s brilliant.

[ISRAEL OLAOLUWA ADELEKE]

I love this line so much. To be alive, but not discontent. Personally, I believe that to live is by grace, how can the dead be discontent?

[Marcella Granquist]

Found it interesting - Very Buddhist, in a truly Western-mindset-way.

[Lucie Puybonnieux]

A lot of good reminders in this poem and a few thoughts which talked to me and that you wrote in a concise way. Thank you.

[Melanie Webb]

I caught myself trying to compare the two sentiments in each stanza to myself and my life, and have realized that I'm not as "graceful" as I'd like to be. I have a lot to work on. Fighting the urge to take a pen and paper and give myself a count of how many I identify with of each side. Great thought-provoking poem!

[fidha mk]

I just read this poem and I'm blown away by how relatable and real it is. The author is basically laying out this blueprint for living your best life, and it's not about being perfect, but about finding this delicate balance between opposing forces

I love how it acknowledges that it's okay to be human and have contradictions - like being confident but not arrogant, or being brave but not fearless. It's like, yeah, I can be all these things at once, and that's what makes me, me.

The language is so beautiful and evocative, too. I especially love the line about treating your body as a temple, but not your true self. It's like, yeah, take care of yourself, but don't forget that you're more than just your physical body.

What really resonates with me, though, is the message about finding inner peace without having to hit rock bottom first. It's like, yeah, let's take control of our lives and make changes before it's too late. Let's choose to turn our lives around and find that inner peace, rather than waiting for some catastrophic event to force us to do so.

Overall, I'm just really impressed by this poem and its message. It's like a wake-up call to live your best life, and to find that balance and inner peace that we all deserve.

[Yaa Agyekum 1]

I hope you like it!



What Grace Means to Me
by Scott Hughes


To be extremely confident, but not at all arrogant.

To be brave, but not fearless.

To be stoically tough, but not painless.

To be inspired, but not restless.

To have calm endurance without laziness.

To be motivated, but not greedy.

To have fun in this life, without addiction, attachment, or desperate clinginess.

To love and appreciate, without jealousy, cowardly possessiveness, or controlling anger.

To be alive, but not discontent.

To be content, but not dead.

To live as a mortal human, without becoming only human.

To treat your flesh as your temple, but not your true self.

To be at war in the material world, without losing inner peace.

To be kind, but not dishonest.

To love and forgive unconditionally, but only trust intelligently.

To be assertive, but not aggressive.

To forcefully defend your own as needed, but not offensively attack others.

To set boundaries without crossing boundaries.

To be rebellious and free, but not a tyrant.

To pick your battles stingily, but fight the battles you pick with incredible stubborn determination.

To rarely choose to do, but to do your best when you do.

To be stubbornly decisive and self-determined, but accepting of that which you cannot control.

To do your best with the metaphorical cards you’re dealt, without trying to change the cards at all.

To do, without trying.

To achieve ultimate inner peace without having to first suffer ultimate outward devastation.

To choose to make where you are now your personal rock bottom before hitting actual rock bottom.

To choose to turn your life around before it is too late and there is no life left to turn around.




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It really resonate with me a lot.

[Ololade Sedowo]

I feel inspired, The words are well written.

[Thomas Tilu Mathew]

Inspiring, yet thought-provoking. Mundane, yet intriguing.

I find this highly intriguing as it presents the true essence of reality itself.

[Ouarab Youssef]

Hello everyone
I like the poem because it refers to what the individual usually needs to do in the face of the stations and vicissitudes of life, including the common daily and even emergency matters, as well as with regard to human relations in general and the different intellectual and behavioral patterns of people, and Mr. Hughes pointed out a basic, intelligent and simple rule in understanding and application, which is the principle of balance or balance in both actions and reactions, this is the secret - among the secrets ... - in living life intelligently, prosperously and blissfully.

[Ouarab Youssef]

Poem:Where to find the solution!?:
Complain about life
I struggle with emotions
Doubting emotions
Suffering with nothing
Suddenly I wake up to a friend's slap
Watch out, there's a hole in front of you.
Oh, thank you, my soul!
I forgot you were with me and almost lost you.
I was selfish and blind because I'm an idiot.
It's only now that I realize that somehow
that life and people have value.
no different than mine.
Let's simplify thinking
Let's simplify attitudes
And let's live free and smile in two places!

[Makala willingham]

The poem was amazing! It perfectly showcases how everything needs to be a balance or it may offset another factor. It also make you realize that there's a lot that is expected from another. The things that are listed are basic common sense or human decency but it makes up what can be considered as being graceful in life.

[Prerna Verma 4]

I like this poem,it's simply telling the way how do we live life.