Always Accept With Grace

How do we react when we receive something- This is something that has always fascinated me.

When you receive a gift, a kind gesture, or an apology, how do you respond, and what do you say?

Let’s take the case of an apology. Someone does something that hurts you in some way, and you expect this person to apologize. Now, this person does indeed come across to you and he says, ” I am so sorry this happened. I should have been careful. I will take care not to repeat this mistake.”

What would your response be?

What I have noticed is that most people are ill-prepared to receive anything gracefully, notably an apology. 

So when an apology does come through, the response is typically, ” Oh, it’s ok, it was no problem. You didn’t have to apologize.” This is disingenuous. The other person did commit some mistake, and you were expecting an apology. But when the apology does come, you end up giving a confusing signal.

When you say, “it’s no problem, you did not have to apologize,” the other person will wonder, “Why did I have to apologize? He clearly doesn’t think it to be such a big deal.”

A more genuine and empathetic response would be to say, ” Thank you. I can understand how difficult this must have been for you. Your apology means a lot to me, and I appreciate you for saying it.”

It’s the same with gifts or gestures. Someone gifts us something, and our instinctive response is, ” oh, why did you have to do it. It was not necessary; I can’t be accepting this..”

This is a very poor way to deal with someone’s kind gesture. When someone does something in a spirit of goodwill and kindness, the best thing you can do is acknowledge and thank that person. Please don’t dismiss the gesture and make the other person feel like he or she did something that was not necessary. Instead, tell the person how much the gesture means for you and how much you appreciate it.

Accept with grace whatever comes your way.

When you open your heart to receive and accept with grace, you will also get better at giving gracefully.