Imperfect Perfection

To love another human in all of her

splendor and imperfect perfection,

it is a magnificent task ...

tremendous and foolish and human.

Louise Erdrich

The Last Report On The Miracles At Little No Horse

In Alan Cohen's wonderful book, A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE, Daily Inspiration for Heart-Centered Living, I came upon a discussion of perfection versus imperfection, and it brought a new perspective to me.  Alan Cohen described a man finding fault with everyone and everything, always pointing out what was needed to be improved.  This man claimed to be a perfectionist.  Then a woman was described as being in massive traffic congestion.   She was praising fellow drivers for cooperating and working together when there was a challenge.  The contrast between this man and woman illustrates the difference between a man passing himself off as a perfectionist and a woman who simply looked for good in every situation. 

As we are all imperfect, how much better it would be for everyone if we just accepted imperfection and automatically looked for the good.  When we acknowledge the good in some one, it strengthens confidence and increases the desire to do even better. 

We are all children of Divine Spirit, so we each hold within an authentic 'self' bringing a particular gift or talent into Divine Spirit's world.  How much more fun life would be if we were curious of people we meet instead of judgmental.  We could create a party atmosphere asking each other, "What did you get?"  Instead of criticizing we could be discovering the talent or gift of the other person.

Divine Spirit, Universe, or God is within all of us.  Life can be so much more fulfilling if we anticipated the goodness to be discovered in each other.  We would treat each other more kindly and join efforts in creating a peaceful community for work or play.  Rather than being competitive with each other, we could admire the strengths of those we meet.