February is story month on the podcast.  All month long, Jaycine will be interviewing and telling the story of venerable women.  Do you know what a venerable woman is?

A venerable woman is wise, worthy of respect, and has been around long enough to know stuff.  She is not perfect. She is a balanced combination of both grit and grace.  We have many famous venerable women in our society- some may come to mind for you.  I think of Wendy Watson Nelson, Maya Angelou, Sariah and Mary from the Scriptures, Karen Drucker, the talented and venerable songwriter and singer, and the good friend that serves me so generously and takes time to answer my questions and teach me in patience (and often, long-suffering).  I’m sure you know many venerable women as well.

One of the hallmarks of a venerable woman is her well-earned endowment of grit and grace.

According to author Angela Ducksworth, grit is our ability to pursue our goals with passion and perseverance as a marathon, not a sprint.  A venerable woman is actively running her marathon.   She may be sore, sweaty, and dirty, but she’s doing it.

Grit has five basic characteristics.  Valor, Persistence (Follow through), Resilience, Excellence (instead of perfection), and Compassion.

We’ll be talking about them all month, but here’s a start. 

Valor comes from the Latin Valorem for “strength or moral worth,” with the sense of “courage” added later. Valor is often displayed in the face of something designed to crush it, like a battle in a war, and it is often rewarded with the conferring of a medal.

Now I’m sure you can think of something in your life that was designed to crush you like a battle in a war.  Hang in there, friend; if you haven’t conquered yet, you will.  The other grit tendencies, persistence, and resilience will help you with that.  We will talk more about them next week.

For now, here’s a little help in the grit and grace department.

You are an incredible, venerable woman.  Just reading this, I know that about you.  Yes, you may be battle worn and more than a little tired, but you persist and keep going.  That makes you amazing.

Create your week this week with that knowledge foremost in your mind.

You’ve got this

P.S. Check out the podcast A Creator-based® Life on Spotify, iTunes, or Youtube.  Be sure to subscribe so you won’t miss a single episode! ILet’s share compassion, mindfulness, and hope with the world!

All my love, 

Beth