A few years ago, I stumbled across this children's book written by Anne Isaacs "Swamp Angel". It is about a Paul Bunyan type girl who single-handedly saves the settlers from a fearsome bear known as Thundering Tarnation.
Now any girl whose childhood hero was Mighty Mouse would not be able to resist such a book - and sure enough, the story lived up to my expectations - but the book itself is defective.
The second half of the book was put in upside down. It has created quite a quandary for me from the day I got it home. I keep wanting to get rid of the book because it is defective. But then I decide to read it one more time before parting with it. And, once again, I enjoy the story too much to part with the book.
Actually, when I think about that book and compare it with my life, the lesson it brings home by being defective makes it all the more valuable to me.
I look back over my life, remembering all my feeble attempts to "save the day" which failed miserably. I think of my more feeble attempts to save people from themselves which failed even more miserably. I ponder my hard-nosed attempts to force change on myself - which rates up there with "what I failed most horribly at".
So, it is very interesting to me that when I finally accepted my defectiveness, life as I know it became more beautiful. I find it odd that when somebody else authentically shows their defectiveness to me, I feel humbled and honored.
My mind now takes me back to a time when I loved a man unconditionally; and my inner world was filled with the delight known only to infants. And that memory encourages me to take another step closer towards loving myself - or at least accepting myself - defective as I am - even though my actions and attitudes make me feel less than loveable a lot of the time.
And what really blows my mind even more is how much good is accomplished when a person stops trying to Be more than what he is and just focuses on "Being Real in the moment" - being open to life "as it is" right where he finds himself today.
About Me
- Rambling Rose
- I grew up in a large family, married young, survived two husbands, raised two children, helped raise two granddaughters and a great-niece. I am now retired from the workforce and am committed to finding out who I am outside all the roles I buried myself in.
Paints With Words
My Christening Award
2 comments:
Wanted you to know how much I enjoyed your posting today. It just hit a note with me. Isn't it interesting how we more readily accept our friends' defects easier than our own? Thanks for sharing this.
Yes, most of us are very unforgiving of ourselves. I think it stems from wanting to be better people than what we are. But there is nothing perfect in this world. And life becomes a whole lot easier once we learn to live with our imperfections - sometimes we even become able to laugh at them. Thank you for your comment.
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