I believe there are two kinds of perfection: superficial perfection and godly perfection. Superficial perfection is this ideal that we build up that we can do it all and have it all without error or mishap. Happiness has been achieved; it's a simple box with a giant check mark in it. Godly perfection, on the other hand, is very personal, very humbling, and can only begin to be achieved, ironically, by acknowledging that we cannot overcome our own weaknesses alone; that we can only be perfected through Christ. I believe the former is a counterfeit of the latter.
Today I went to a baby shower for a friend that I work out with. The lady that hosted the baby shower had a beautiful home. In fact, I was a bit blown away as I walked through the front door. As a side note, my husband and I have been touring the parade of homes this week. I remember telling him (more for my benefit than his), "I think I have to be careful as we do this because I don't want all these beautiful homes to make me discontent with ours. We may not have the most elaborate, clean, beautiful home around, but I always want to be grateful that we have a home." He understood. (One of the many reasons I love my man - he gets me.)
Anyway, as I walked into this lady's home, it was gorgeous; absolutely stunning. The home was fresh, bright, updated, expertly designed, and perfectly decorated. She had a beautiful spread of decorations for the shower, all color coordinated and tastefully themed. I kept noticing things about her home that I liked: the color on the walls, the gorgeous hardwood floors, the beautiful stone countertops, the colored glass tile backsplash, the vent hood above her stove, the beautiful bouquet of pale pink gardenias on her entry table, the picture wall displaying all her well-groomed children, and the list just continued to grow. In my head I thought, "Wow, she's perfect. She's got it all together." Then, very quickly I might add, those thoughts were followed by, "So, what's wrong with me? Why can't I get it together?" This very dangerous thought can quickly spiral into, "I'll just never be good enough." The fact is that I know that this woman has endured her own personal crucible, yet the standard of superficial perfection creeping into that perspective and began tainting my own value and worth.
Then, as if by some tender mercy, I happened to overhear her telling another woman at the shower that they'd done a lot of foundation work because their house was sinking. At another point during the shower, she pointed out that the legs on her designer couches were breaking off because it was hard to keep her children from jumping on them. Later on, I noticed that there was a smoke detector dangling from her ceiling by the wires. Everything that seemed perfect was superficial perfection; stuff that doesn't matter! Couches break, foundations sink, smoke detectors run out of batteries in real life.
In novels, I root for the infallible, incorruptible characters. In real life, however, I have a tendency to stay away from them. Why? Because it's not real! In real life, we aren't perfect. We all have chinks in our armor. If I think you are perfect, then I don't know you! If you think you are perfect, then you don't know yourself! There was only one perfect person to walk this earth and that was by divine design. Deity literally had to be involved for one person to be able to survive this life perfectly!
I need to stop being afraid that others will see my weaknesses, and concern myself more with avoiding complacency in improving upon those weaknesses. I don't think happiness comes from noticing the chinks in another's armor, fixing the chinks in our own armor, or even wearing armor at all. Happiness comes from improvement. Be you. Be real. Be forgiving. Be kind. Be better.
“Share your weaknesses. Share your hard moments. Share your real side. It'll either scare away every fake person in your life or it will inspire them to finally let go of that mirage called "perfection," which will open the doors to the most important relationships you'll ever be a part of.”
Today I went to a baby shower for a friend that I work out with. The lady that hosted the baby shower had a beautiful home. In fact, I was a bit blown away as I walked through the front door. As a side note, my husband and I have been touring the parade of homes this week. I remember telling him (more for my benefit than his), "I think I have to be careful as we do this because I don't want all these beautiful homes to make me discontent with ours. We may not have the most elaborate, clean, beautiful home around, but I always want to be grateful that we have a home." He understood. (One of the many reasons I love my man - he gets me.)
Anyway, as I walked into this lady's home, it was gorgeous; absolutely stunning. The home was fresh, bright, updated, expertly designed, and perfectly decorated. She had a beautiful spread of decorations for the shower, all color coordinated and tastefully themed. I kept noticing things about her home that I liked: the color on the walls, the gorgeous hardwood floors, the beautiful stone countertops, the colored glass tile backsplash, the vent hood above her stove, the beautiful bouquet of pale pink gardenias on her entry table, the picture wall displaying all her well-groomed children, and the list just continued to grow. In my head I thought, "Wow, she's perfect. She's got it all together." Then, very quickly I might add, those thoughts were followed by, "So, what's wrong with me? Why can't I get it together?" This very dangerous thought can quickly spiral into, "I'll just never be good enough." The fact is that I know that this woman has endured her own personal crucible, yet the standard of superficial perfection creeping into that perspective and began tainting my own value and worth.
Then, as if by some tender mercy, I happened to overhear her telling another woman at the shower that they'd done a lot of foundation work because their house was sinking. At another point during the shower, she pointed out that the legs on her designer couches were breaking off because it was hard to keep her children from jumping on them. Later on, I noticed that there was a smoke detector dangling from her ceiling by the wires. Everything that seemed perfect was superficial perfection; stuff that doesn't matter! Couches break, foundations sink, smoke detectors run out of batteries in real life.
In novels, I root for the infallible, incorruptible characters. In real life, however, I have a tendency to stay away from them. Why? Because it's not real! In real life, we aren't perfect. We all have chinks in our armor. If I think you are perfect, then I don't know you! If you think you are perfect, then you don't know yourself! There was only one perfect person to walk this earth and that was by divine design. Deity literally had to be involved for one person to be able to survive this life perfectly!
I need to stop being afraid that others will see my weaknesses, and concern myself more with avoiding complacency in improving upon those weaknesses. I don't think happiness comes from noticing the chinks in another's armor, fixing the chinks in our own armor, or even wearing armor at all. Happiness comes from improvement. Be you. Be real. Be forgiving. Be kind. Be better.
“Share your weaknesses. Share your hard moments. Share your real side. It'll either scare away every fake person in your life or it will inspire them to finally let go of that mirage called "perfection," which will open the doors to the most important relationships you'll ever be a part of.”
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