By Cindy Walker Burton

The other day I was participating in the brutal sport of boxing. My inner Rocky emerged. I was skillfully and methodically throwing hooks and upper cuts and landing them accurately. The sheer force of the punches caused my opponent considerate pain and anguish. My final powerful punch was going to be a knockout. But after a few more ferocious rounds of savage sparring, exhaustion set in. I retreated to my corner to recover. You see, the opponent was ME. And I was beating myself up.

No referee, coach, sparring partner, or trainer was present. I was all of those! No physical injuries resulted from this self-inflicted boxing match. The injuries occurred in the boxing ring of my mind. It was Me versus my Inner Critic, and Me was losing by unanimous decision. Inner Critic was a relentless punishing opponent. Even Rocky would have forfeited the bout!

Fellow boxers, your inner critic shows up to box you and mock you. Every time you mess up, slip up, fall short, or fall down, your inner critic is bound to surround you, confound you, and pound you round after round. It delivers sucker punches and throws low blows. It unleashes upper cuts to cut you down. Its jabs jolt you. So how do you defeat this oppressive opponent? How do you vanquish this vicious foe? How do you silence the sinister inner critic?

One word: GRACE. Here’s the case to embrace grace: Don’t be so hard on yourself. Stop beating yourself up. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Forgive yourself. Retire from the boxing ring of self criticism. After all, even Rocky eventually retired.

Grace means making a mental shove toward self love and hanging up the boxing gloves. Extend, lend, and send yourself grace. Grace yourself – don’t disgrace yourself. And leave the boxing to Rocky.