{Handmade Business in 31 Days — Day 22, Having grace towards others.}

Day 22// Over the weekend I received a Facebook message from a blog reader. She had a question about how to respond to a situation involving someone copying her work. At the end of her message to me she concluded,

One more thing, total shift of gears — I am always so impressed by the way you handle (or don’t handle) people who feel the need to question/criticize you over petty things. (Like drinking coffee [while pregnant], for example.) … Anyway, I have observed your graciousness time and time again and just want to encourage you that your light is shining.

I thought it would be good to touch on knowing how to have grace towards others during fussy situations {and what I’ve learned}, because there are times when we need to tell ourselves “no!” to hitting the reply button. Instead we need to practice giving more grace to our neighbor. And sometimes grace comes out a bit quieter — not speaking audibly but instead speaking through our actions.

A few times this season I’ve decided to wait something out. I told myself I wouldn’t take any immediate action, instead it would be wise to sit back + think about the big picture. And to be honest, I think waiting — being able to separate the emotions from the circumstance, has been life-changing.

How does this translate to you as a Handmade Maker? Here are a few examples of when to give more grace:

• when someone is unhappy with their order
• when someone disagrees with a blog post or status update you wrote
• when someone thinks you’re running your business wrong {prices too high/low, frequency of shop updates, your activity on FB or Twitter, etc.}

It’s important to take the time to know how you’ll address situations where grace-giving is needed. Are you going to hoard grace, or are you going hand it out? And maybe you’re thinking, “GRACE, are you kidding me? I am so offended!” or, “But I didn’t do anything wrong, and our policies exist for a reason!” True — maybe you were offended and maybe your policies are to protect you, but you know what? I’ve been embarrassed in the past over things I’ve handled incorrectly, but there have been a few fussy situations recently where I’ve chosen to handle my actions differently and I’m telling you, it not only stopped any future fuss but it nipped at any unnecessary emotions. I’m not saying you should be walked over, but what I am saying is you need to set standards for how you will, 1.) run your handmade business and, 2.) treat others.

These two things definitely go hand in hand.

The way you respond to others — or don’t respond, if that’s truly the best solution, will be remembered 100x over the situation you were making a fuss over ~ mmhmm.

Keep your eye out for “I like to be fussy”-producers, luring you to say or do something to tarnish your reputation. When they come into your life be careful in how you respond. And no matter how absurd someone’s demand is, don’t tweet about how absurd it is. If a business situation or comment deeply + truly hurts your feelings, take your moment to be silent and consider how you will respond. Even if your “moment” is two days.

Give grace, and join me in practicing it?

Homework// Think about the way you handle fussy situations, what have you learned from them? What have other peoples actions/responses taught you about giving grace?

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