Flaws...What to Embrace, What to Fix

Do you love everything, absolutely everything about yourself? Yeah, me either! I have met untold numbers of people in my lifetime and I have never met anyone who loves everything about themselves, whether it's a character flaw or a physical attribute. Quite frankly, my list is longer than I'm willing to admit. It is simply the nature of our imperfect human-ness. The elusive perfection cannot be found or achieved on this side of eternity. As long as we can settle that in our minds and hearts, that is one less thing to be concerned about. It is when our imperfections greet us in the morning, or stare back at us in the mirror that we find them harder to ignore. For the most part, the inevitable can somewhat be ignored. We know they are there, we simply choose to look the other way. What are the inevitables? You know, the unavoidable, the inescapable, those things that remind us that we are blessed enough to age. Things like; the pimple that popped up overnight, the back ache from walking only a half mile, the wrinkle that was not there the year prior, or, the varicose vein that marred your once baby smooth legs. Some people fight until death to erase as many physical imperfections as their money will allow. I don't judge anyone's decision to do so. However, I won't break the bank when it comes to that sort of thing, but I have [and plan to continue] to slow down the process of aging to a certain degree. No cutting, slicing or vacumming anything from this body for the sake of beauty for me thank you! In other words, I embrace what I cannot fix and fix what I can externally. That takes care of the physical. The character flaws issues are a whole new game! 

Character flaw by definition is, an undesirable quality. Character flaws have nothing to do with age or aging, and they cannot be fixed with money. These take a lot more work, time and attention, and it requires intentional attention. Some examples of character flaws are; arrogance (having a sense of self importance. The terrible thing about this flaw (and they are all terrible) is that everyone else can see the arrogance in that person, except that person! Everyone around them are usually thinking the same thing, as they puff themselves up with their titles, accomplishments and possessions; "(who cares, not impressed)"? At least, that's what I'm thinking. I applaud people's accomplishments and am happy for them when they achieve and acquire the things they've desired or worked hard for. But the arrogant component behind them sharing can be smelled a mile away, and I am usually left feeling sorry for the individual. Again, no amount of money can fix this. 

Another character flaw is dishonesty. Dishonesty can take on so many forms but, lying about a situation in order to appear to be something you're not is one. Or, a person who lies about someone they don't like, in the hopes that others will feel the same way about them is another form. There are people who live this way. You've heard of them, you know them, and sadly, you could be one of them...(don't loose hope. It starts with a desire to change, and it's uphill from there)! They are so compulsive that they actually believe their own lies. Money cannot fix this. The list of character flaws are extensive and ugly! Jealousy, pride, greed, vengefulness, paranoia, spite, vanity, cowardice, etc. are only part of the long list. These are the ugly flaws we should never be comfortable with within ourselves. In other words, never embrace character flaws that are harmful, to yourself or others. With desire, practice and prayer, these are things that can be destroyed and abolished from your nature once and for all! A wonderful thing happens when you work to improve your character. You tend to attract those who are likeminded, people who are eager to grow and change for the better.

As you prepare yourself for the person who will embrace you as a partner or spouse, or, as you prepare yourself to grow and be better than you were before, simply because it can make the world a little bit better in some small way, keep polishing up those physical flaws, but whatever you do, don't neglect the character flaws! We all have room for improvement, so don't get comfortable with the uncomfortable. Never forget, the most successful relationships are those where both parties are aware that they are both imperfect humans deciding to get together in spite of their imperfections, but loving each other enough to be patient while improvement takes place!

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