For Today: March 23rd

For Today: March 23^rd

We don’t love qualities, we love persons, sometimes by reason of their defects as well as of their qualities.

Jaquest Maritain

To love the whole person is not the same as thinking, “So-and-So is fine, but…..” I may sometimes wish friends could be free of certain shortcomings for their own sake, but it is those very defects, mixed in with their fine qualities, that make up the total personality of those who are dear to me.

Do I really accept people’s defects or do I secretly demand perfection, going from person to person in a futile search for the ideal friend? This is a question I must consider carefully, for the answer shows not merely how I feel about others, but how far I have progressed towards self-acceptance.

For Today: Recognizing that I still have a tendency to expect perfection in myself and others is a good beginning in letting such expectations go.

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Perfection leads to paralysis. If I expect perfection in  myself or others, I will never find it and that leads to never feeling satisfied. I am a work in progress; I no longer demand perfection from myself OR from others. I accept myself for who I am; I accept others, even with their faults and imperfections; and that leads to self-acceptance & living life on life’s terms, not mine.

For today, I pray to keep working on my tendency towards expecting perfection of myself and others. When I find fault with someone else, I pray to look within myself to see what I am unwilling to accept & what needs to change. 

For today, I surrender my powerlessness and ask God to direct my entire life. He knows what’s best for me & will give me what I NEED, not necessarily what I WANT; I pray to be satisfied with the outcome.