It was just a little thing, that smile on my baby’s face, but it changed my perspective on life.
As he woke and looked up at me, he was looking at what mattered most in the world to him—me! He didn’t care that I was dressed in mismatched pajamas, my hair a mess. He just loved me and loved being with me. He didn’t need perfection; love made it all right. That moment of holding him and taking in those rays of love clarified something I’d been thinking about earlier.
The lack of perfection in life has always rubbed me the wrong way. When someone said or did something that irked me, I’d often argue my case against it in my mind. Why do there have to be things like personality clashes, carelessness, inconsideration, injustice, pessimism, putdowns? These things are real, and they are wrong! I wish they didn’t exist. If everyone, me included, could just get their act together, my life could be one of blissful perfection. Perfection, I reasoned, was the only thing that could ever relieve my irritations. But I also knew that could never be. This was real life. I needed another option.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that what I really wanted was for the world to revolve around me—my wishes, my feelings, my preferences, my priorities. Something had to change, and this time it had to be me, regardless of the faults of others. But how? I’d tried before.
Then that morning, as I held my baby, a whisper of a thought came to me. Would you want your baby to be perfect right from the start?
After pondering that thought, I couldn’t imagine something I’d want less. If he’d been able to walk and run the day he was born, I’d never get to see the look of thrill and accomplishment on his face when he took his first steps, and I’d also miss that special feeling of holding him in my arms, knowing that he was completely dependent on me. If he had been able to talk perfectly from the time he was born, I’d never experience the joy of hearing him speak his first word. If he knew everything that an adult knows, I’d never get to see him overcome with wonder at some new discovery and I’d never have the fulfillment of teaching him something new. So many things I’d miss. No, his imperfection makes him just perfect. I wouldn’t have him any other way!
What was it then, I asked myself, that made his imperfection different from the other imperfections around me?
The answer was love.
That was it! That was what I was lacking. That was what I needed more of in order to cope bravely and cheerfully when confronted by problems I wished didn’t exist.
I realized how much I’d be missing if I and everyone around me were perfect from the start. I’d miss the unpredictability of life that adds the sense of surprise; the joy of forgiving and being forgiven; the strong, abiding bonds of friendship that are formed through adversity, and the positive character traits that are formed much the same way.
Adding negative thoughts to a negative situation, I reminded myself, never brings positive results. I determined then and there to look for and find the positive opportunities and experiences that are hidden behind the mask of imperfection.
When my baby couldn’t sleep later that day, I decided to make the best of a difficult situation by putting my new lesson into practice. I put what I had been sure was best for him and me on hold, and my husband and I took some time to sing and laugh with him. It was a perfectly happy moment that we all would have missed had everything been “perfect” that day.
Every situation and person we encounter can make our lives a ride of joy and surprise, if we look beyond. Difficulties, losses, hurts, lacks—we can think of each as a clue in a treasure hunt, the door to a secret vault where you will find beautiful treasures from God. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” 1
- Matthew 7:7 ↑