"Lately, when I do my daily practice I find myself praying to live gracefully. I have a very particular feeling in my body when I remember or imagine a graceful day. It is a day without rush, a day when I am not suffering over things not being any different than they are, a day when I take a breath and accept those things I cannot change, like long lineups in the bank or traffic jams or the weather. It's a day when I rest easy in a mysterious knowing that there is enough — enough time and money and energy and heart in the world and in my life, a day when I know that I am enough. It is a day when I am simply present with myself and all that is around me. It is a day of being truly happy, of feeling graceful — comfortable in my own skin and life.

"To dance is to move gracefully. To live our soul's longing is to be willing to live grace-filled moments. Grace is the opportunity to be happy that we do not earn. That's what makes it grace. But if we are old-time sink-or-swimmers, if we believe that our basic nature is in need of fundamental renovation, the unearned gifts of grace make us nervous. They stir feelings of guilt and fears about potential envy; they heighten our sense of unworthiness and enmesh us in a sense of obligation to work harder at being the people we feel we should be. If we are not in some essential way a manifestation of the Mystery that bestows grace, grace can feel like yet another burden.

"To dance, to move gracefully, to receive the grace-filled moments every day, we have to know that we are worthy not because of our hard work or our suffering or our eagerness to be other than we are; we are worthy by our very nature — the same nature that creates and sustains all that is. When we know this we are able to answer the question 'Are you willing to be happy?' with a quiet but confident, 'Yes.' "