Perfection Is So Overrated

I haven't blogged in a while and recent life events have caused me to reflect on society's view of perfection, the wonderfully awesome post by Single Dad Laughing at http://www.danoah.com/ and how that was the start of a few interesting conversations around our house.


A few months back when Single Dad posted his great article about perfection/imperfection, it made such a great impact on me and my husband. We had a great conversation about it. At the time, we each shared some of the things that we considered to be our imperfections but not all was shared at that time. It took something major to bring out some of the other things. Now that those things have been aired, we can look at them and study them and tackle them together. I am really thankful to Single Dad for taking a great step forward and posting something that should've been posted a long time ago. I wish everyone would see the truth of it and the relief it can bring to just speak your imperfections and admit to imperfection. It's very freeing and it gives you an opportunity to 'change the things you can change' about yourself and give the rest over to God. Holding things in your heart, especially painful things, is very rough on the human soul. I wouldn't say trust everyone! No, not at all! But I would say find someone you can trust who will help you walk through those issues, struggles, imperfections and become a better person for your efforts.

On a different note about imperfections... I'm an artistic sort of person. I was always taught there are no straight lines in nature. I really, really like that. It means that when I look at something, the thing that catches my eye is the one thing that is different. For bugs and certain animals, this is quite a dreadful thing. On the other hand, those little differences are the things that make humans unique. I choose to revel in my differences and enjoy being the person I am. For too many years, I felt locked up in a box of 'You /are/ this. You are that. You are not this. You are not that." When the box was finally opened, there was a whole new world to explore right in front of me. Who was mostly responsible for helping me get out of the box? Well, that would be a combination of great folks but mostly my husband. His constant assurances of loving me as I am have helped me so very much. His encouragement for me to try new things has helped even more. My life is so much richer because he is in it and I thank God so very much for putting us together. Having said that, I'm not sure I've totally convinced him that I feel exactly the same way, that I love him just the way he is. His whole being is what makes him right for me, in my opinion. His smile brightens my day and when he's down and out, it troubles me.

My troubles start with laziness and serious cases of the 'I don't wannas'. They don't stop there but I won't go into my seriously long list of shortcomings. Suffice it to say I've made a conscious decision to strive towards doing much better in the year to come. My shortcomings are things that I /can/ change so I'm working to do just that, one step at a time. Working on hard things is much easier when two people tackle the job, even if one of those people is only there for conversation to lift the spirits. So pray for me as I start the new year with this determination, with this desire. I hope for good things in this new year, for me and for you all! Have a great one!