"When things are going good, be grateful. When things are going bad, be graceful."

Life has a natural polarity to it, there are so many things that you are exposed to that are out of your control. But there’s something you always have, regardless of the environment, which is choice.

With that in mind, let's embrace this quote: “When things are going good, be grateful. When things are going bad, be graceful.”

Starting with the first half of the quote, It is so important to acknowledge when things are going well in your life. It’s sometimes tempting to get caught up in the vanity and superficiality of positive results, but remaining grounded and centered in the rewards that you earned helps you to develop the right associations with the outcome.

Now the second half - "When things are going bad, be graceful." Your brain and body have two ways of communicating with each other which are top-down and bottom-up processing, and your graceful behavior helps your brain orient itself as to how it wants to respond. To stay graceful is to be elegant, and you’ll be more prone to handling the situation in a way that you are proud of and is representative of your intentions.  

Also built into grace is an element of respect. Respect for what has happened, trying to find the meaning and lesson in it, as well as respect for yourself and your own state. When you can answer bad news or less than ideal events in your life with control and intentionality, you’ll be able to overcome the issue with much more authority and efficacy.

It’s not a natural behavior, but really give this some thought. “When things are going good, be grateful. When things are going bad, be graceful.”