Is your life a movie or more like the 2017 Oscars? For those of you that may not be aware, the movie, “La La Land” was announced as the Best Picture for 2017. In reality, “Moonlight” was the actual winner, but the wrong envelope was given to the presenters. The correction was announced by Jordan Horowitz, a producer of “La La Land” who had already given his acceptance speech. He said, “I’m sorry, there’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture…I’m going to be very proud to hand this to my friends from ‘Moonlight’”.

After watching this unfold, I said to my husband that the real story that took place tonight was the graciousness exhibited by Jordan Horowitz in the moment. I hoped this was what would be discussed in the aftermath instead of the mistake. We all make mistakes, but sometimes we aren’t gracious in the moment. Why? Because it is HARD. Our brains are wired to react to danger (mistakes) and protect ourselves. To respond by being gracious (with emotions already high) takes conscious thought and practice. I don’t know Jordan Horowitz, but I bet this isn’t the first time he has responded with grace.

In my family, when something doesn’t go as planned, we often acknowledge that “our movie is off the reel”. There was a script or a plan for the day and something happens unexpectedly to change the scene. When this happens you can either react (pout, yell, blame, etc.) or you can respond graciously (acknowledge the change and write a new script). Depending on the scope of the change, people may need some time to accept the change and begin with writing different scenes. For those “in the moment experiences” (when we are on stage), we often don’t have time and need to be gracious in an instant.

If your life was a movie, you would be able to edit out the scenes that didn’t go well or events that didn’t fit into the story line. Fortunately or unfortunately, our lives play out more like the Oscars did this year. We may not always be able to act out the original script, but we can choose to be more gracious along the way.

Will you remember the Oscars this year for the mistake or for the display of graciousness? How do you want to be remembered? What will you choose?