shortcomings
I am a terrible housekeeper. I never remember to dust and I haven't seen my kitchen table in months. Yes I do eat at said table. And if you want to join me you are welcome to put your plate on a book or magazine of your choice.I have zero willpower. Every 3 months for 10 days I do a "cleanse" and only eat lean meat, fruits, and vegetables. I am yet to make it to day 5 without cheating.
I am very wasteful. I waste everything. Everything.
I had never heard of Saint Nicholas Day until yesterday (even though Wikipedia says it is popular in Cincinnati). And it sounds really scary. Kids getting butchered (on a similar note, did you hear they are going to make a movie out of the books Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark?). Demons kidnapping naughty children. Giving presents to unmarried women who "need" to find a husband. (Maybe it's not such a shortcoming to have neglected to put my shoes outside Thursday night.)
Typically when we talk about shortcomings we follow them with "but..."
I may rarely set goals and even more rarely meet them, but I am good at...
I may procrastinate, but on the positive side I...
No I don't appreciate sarcasm, but I do appreciate...
That isn't embracing our shortcomings, though. That's justifying or overlooking or dismissing them. It certainly isn't trying to improve upon them.
I want to own my shortcomings. To claim them as part of what makes me my imperfect self. I want to try to be better, less wasteful, more aware, and at the same time accept myself how I am now and even if no progress is ever made.
Because this is me. Messy. Flawed. In need of a Savior to be perfect for me, because perfect is one thing I'll never be. And I'm totally okay with that.
EMBRACE SHORTCOMINGS.
What do you need to accept about your imperfect self?
I'm a terrible housekeeper. I rarely finish something I start. I'm more than a little lazy. Sometimes I have trouble sympathizing with people. I yell too much. I'd never get out of pajamas if I didn't have to. I'm too emotional sometimes and react without thinking. Have you ever read anything by Brene Brown?
ReplyDeleteOooohhh, I am the worst at sympathizing with people!! And I haven't read Brene Brown but when I googled her and "The Gift of Imperfection: Let Go of Who you think you are Supposed to be and EMBRACE who you are" came up I knew I was a convert!! Thanks for the recommendation! Can't wait to check it out!
DeleteI'm judgmental and critical and a snob. I rarely think it is worth the energy to tell people what I think. But to people that I love, that I use energy to tell what I think, I often use my intelligence and wit to be cruel. I take criticism ridiculously hard. I cry too much. I can't stand it when people don't acknowledge how hard we all try and when my intentions are assumed to be mean. I need my Christ to be perfect too.
ReplyDeleteI don't let myself cry enough, so maybe we balance each other out! Thank you for being real and raw and honest Julia. I so agree with our (I'm including myself, because I'm not good at this!) need to acknowledge people's efforts. Compassion and looking for the good intentions of all people would make the world a little brighter.
DeleteI'm curious why a Savior has to be perfect in order to be worth it? Really. I don't understand this traditional belief is true.
ReplyDeleteHi Robin! To me it's not so much that Jesus "has to" be perfect, it is that He "is". And, for me, this isn't "tradition", it's biblical. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Heb 5:9). While the Bible says Jesus was without sin, which is what many people think of when they think of Jesus' perfection, the emphasis on perfection for me is more about wholeness and being complete--Jesus' being completely human and completely Divine and sacrificing Himself completely for us. Scripture says we are to be perfect as our Father is perfect (Matt 5:48) and that we are made "perfect in Christ Jesus" (Col 1:28), which is to say that we are complete in Him and are to do our best to live our lives as He would. That is where I'm coming from when I talk about a Savior who is perfect. I'm certainly open to hearing your thoughts!
Delete