Growing up, we had a golden retriever named Ginger. Ginger was really my sister's dog. I thought she drooled too much and smelled weird. My sister loved her unconditionally. In her later years, Ginger developed cataracts and could not navigate the house very well. She also developed an unfortunate cluster of growths on her nether region (which we lovingly referred to as her butt warts). The grosser and smellier Ginger got, the more my sister loved her. Back then, I just didn't get it.
For many years, I searched for perfection in my life. I wanted a perfectly neat and tidy home, clean and well behaved children (we all know how that one turned out), I wanted every day to be a good hair day. Every time something did not turn out the way I wanted it to, I felt a keen sense of disappointment.
I believe that my journey over the past year or so has taught me to see that in essence, perfection is a myth. When you look at your old, blind, stinky dog with pure depth of emotion, that dog - to you - embodies perfection. I look at my life as if with different eyes these days. Messy house, kid sleeping in the living room, cat pee on the backpack, weeks between home-cooked meals....yet I can say honestly, I have never been happier.
My kids desperately need haircuts and sometimes they forget to brush their teeth (and I forget to remind them!), but they are happy and healthy. My toe nails could really use some TLC, my car is making a really loud noise, but I am happy and healthy. Wish I could have learned this lesson from my sister when I was 14. Better late than never, right?
Yes, it's called - don't sweat the small stuff.... That used to be very hard for me too, but I learned as well.
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