Gracenomics

Yesterday I read Gracenomics: Unleash The Power Of Second Chance Living by Mike Foster.  Mr. Foster is founder of "People Of The Second Chance", a movement of people committed to showing unexpected, excessive and scandalous amounts of grace.  The author defines grace as "the act of giving favor when it is not required."  Gracenomics combines this definition of grace with the term "economics".  So,  gracenomics is defined as the science that deals with the production, distribution and consumption of grace.
This is a short, simple book that could easily be read in a couple of hours. Mr. Foster explains that our society has become a "vulture culture".  People love to hear about people who are humiliated and weakened by scandal, addiction and failure.  Not only do other people tear us down, but we also do a pretty good job on ourselves by failing to forgive and move on from mistakes and failures.  The author calls this "chewing on ourselves."  People are often caught up in a victim's mentality and tend to relive the trauma over and over again.  It may be time to escape from Victimville and head on down to Gracetown. Once you accept your failures, you may come to see them less like disasters and more like the driving force behind future successes.
Gracenomics for others is based on adopting this perspective; People are not evil, They are weak. People choose meanness out of impaired vision and skewed understanding.  A reality of the human species is that we love to judge, label and assess value.  Mother Teresa said, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them."  If we have empathy for others, then grace and forgiveness will prevail.
The last part of this book deals with Gracenomics at work.  Mr. Foster empahsizes the importance of being a good listener.  "Gracenomics says wherever you are, be fully there."  The author cites Zappos as a business that found success by listening to their customers and expressing a caring attitude.  The author believes that accountability and truth must be required of everyone in a leadership position. 
The author invites us to give second chance living a shot.  The world could really use the transforming power of forgiveness and grace. 
The People of the Second Chance have a fan page on Facebook and Mike Foster is on Twitter.
I think this book is definitly worth the time you will spend reading it.  It will open your mind and heart to all kinds of opportunities to give grace a chance.