Have you ever found yourself in a place or situation and quickly realized that it is exactly where you should be? Some might call it good fortune or happenstance. I would call it grace.
Like so many others, I can find myself stretched thin with job and civic responsibilities, meeting the needs of the students at the school where I work, meeting the needs of my family, and meeting my own needs for exercise and mindfulness. Stretched thin is where I found myself most of this fall.
Last Wednesday I arrived at Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, New York, for a three-day conference entitled “Counselors and Health Educators Conference: Exploring Roles, Responsibilities and Resources to Promote Student Wellness.” What was left out of the title was the opportunity for attendees to renew body, mind and spirit. That’s where grace comes in.
To be at Mohonk is a respite in and of itself. Set atop a mountain, Mohonk Mountain House is an enormous, rambling structure, the epitome of rustic luxury. There are picturesque views of Lake Mohonk and pristine wilderness, and the coziness of the interior is soothing. This was the perfect place for this conference—just what I needed.
On top of this, the conference leaders, all incredibly knowledgeable and engaging, gave those of us in the field of counseling and student wellness a wonderful opportunity to be together, to collaborate, to learn more about ourselves and our work, to be supported and affirmed, and to have fun.
On the first afternoon, each of us was asked to share a word that described how we were feeling at that time. My word was “grateful.” At the end of the conference we were asked to share again. My word then was “gratified.” How did I know that I needed this conference as much as I did? I knew I needed something to ease how stretched I was feeling, but I did not know this was where I would find the grace I was longing for. As Anne Lamott has written, “I do not understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.”
As hard as it can be to hold onto that feeling of grace once you leave that place or situation, make the effort. It’s worth it. My time at this conference met me where I was and did not leave me where it found me. For this, I am grateful and gratified.
