I just got back from a wonderful stroll on the beach searching for shells.  I used to look for “perfect” shells along the beaches I would walk but as I have gotten older, I tend to go for the worn ones, the ones that have interesting aberrations on them or interesting shapes, textures, colors.  Once when I took a course in Chinese Face Reading the instructor told us she preferred to “read” the faces of people over 50 because until then their stories were still “untold” on those faces.  It was the wrinkles and spots and creases that told their tale, she said, rather than the unlined faces of youth.  “Youthful faces are beautiful”, she said, “but older faces are so much more interesting…they have more to say.”

That instructor said she would never recommend plastic surgery of any kind except in the instance of “hooded eyes” which can affect one’s ability to see.  She said that changing the outside of our faces changed the inside of our beings.  In other words, who wants perfection!  Let’s go for a life well lived!

Indeed it is the imperfections in our lives that add the spice and zing and interest to a life well lived.  It is those same imperfections that teach us our greatest lessons and make us better people if we but allow that to happen.  If we don’t get bogged down with the weight of our imperfections we can use them to catapult us to new heights.  Indeed, imperfections seem to propel us forward if we use them correctly!

Next time you are feeling pushed towards perfection remember these wise words:

“If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

and “When you stop expecting people to be perfect, you can like them for who they are.”  (Including ourselves I might add…DSH)
― Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life

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