No Such Thing as a Perfect World. . .

We have been raised in a culture that has a certain definition and penchant for perfection.  From the get-go, getting all the answers right on a test in school gets you high praise - you were supposed to get everything right.  If religious, we are supposed to be in the image of the deity, in other words - perfect.   Now layer on how in the past decades we've approached life;    we've supposedly made everything easier. . .and quicker.   We expect everything to go according to plan. . .and there's not anything particularly wrong with that. . .except that it is the very nature of life that not everything is going to go according to plan.

And then what do we do?

With the preoccupation of perfection. . .are we really prepared to deal with imperfection?   

Here's the deal that we, in our desire for perfection, often ignore.   We have a whole tool box that we've been given to help us deal with the inevitability that things will not always go our way.   Resilience.  Patience.   Hope.  Negotiation.  Options (usually lots and lots of options).  The list goes on. . .

Instead of using these wonderful resources, often we become so frustrated that things aren't going our way that we lash out. . .or give up hope. . .or just keep doing what we've been doing.    Honestly, those things make what might be slight imperfections. . .HUGE PROBLEMS.

Reality?    There's no such thing as a perfect world. . .and the wondrous thing is that we are able to deal with that - and should deal with that.

The lesson from nature.  I suppose we could look at a "perfect" scenario" of a stream, with tree-lined banks on a sunny day of 72 degrees or so.  And the truth about nature is that there are days like that. . .and there are days when wind storms take down those beautiful trees. . .or that placid stream floods over the shoreline.  .   .or the cold makes all of the deciduous vegetation unseasonably late.   And then nature calls upon its innate resources to repair itself.

That's what we must do as well. . .because that's what we've been made to do.

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