Recovery Seeds for January 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
I heard a friend say recently that relationships are like packages.
There will never be a perfect relationship. There will never be a perfect package. But, if you love the overall package, you learn to work with the imperfections.
When we find ways to live with imperfections in ourselves, in others, in our relationships, we realize a new level of serenity.
Give your relationships as much loving kindness and compassion as you’re capable of giving. Love your package … dented corners, peeling tape, and all.
“It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect. The more perfect we are the more gentle and quiet we become towards the defects of others.” Joseph Addison
I’m wishing you wellness and tender, healing nourishment,
Take good care,
Jane
Monday, January 3, 2011
Welcome ~
It’s great to be writing Recovery Seeds again. I’m refreshed after a short break, and am also excited about a new format we’ll try in January.
My plan for January is to add new Recovery Seed posts at the top of this page, rather than keeping each one separate. You’ll find each new Recovery Seed here, until the end of the month, when we’ll begin a new page.
I’m also still deciding whether to continue posting daily, or whether to post several times a week. If you have opinions about how often you’d like for me to post, please let me know.
So … it’s a new year. The past is behind us. It’s a good time to consider our habits, both good and bad, and evaluate which we’ll nurture, and which we’ll toss.
I love the photo I found for this month. The milkweed pod is opened, lying on a snowy blanket. The feathery tassels just waiting to be plucked by a cold wind, or perhaps by a hungry chickadee, and the seed is off to begin life anew.
Begin life anew. Extend your tassels and allow the winds of change to carry you to a better place. The seed is within you, waiting for a new beginning.
” From a small seed a mighty trunk may grow. ” Aeschylus
I’m wishing you wellness and tender, healing nourishment,
Take good care,
Jane
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To those who are born into Christian families, they have set before them as their goal, to follow a perfect man and to become more like this perfect man.
I was not taught to follow his wisdom; learn how to attain the spiritual peace we might find there or seek his wisdom on living together in this world community. It’s more like we are little molds set on earth to be like a glowing “untouchable” phenomenon. And we set out to fail at our one essential task as humans, born into the Christian faith because, from tiny children we (I speak from the Christian faith) are taught to seek the perfection of Christ. Therefore most of us begin to look for perfection. I grew up in a most imperfect world and did not see this perfection any place I looked so it was a fathomless idea.
When I was a sophomore in college I was approached by a freshman who wanted to know what I thought the goal of man was. I answered “perfection, but we will never attain it.” The lesson I had learned from birth was that I was not perfect but, hopelessly, imperfect.
All about me, are imperfect people, sick from striving for perfection and longing for a peace. That peace we set out to find from youth, is probably that perfection of the Most High and unattainable as Christians seeking it. Then we become like many faiths, seeking perfection in the after life.
I value the very few I have met who have found the peace of imperfection and most seem to have widened their horizons, beyond feeling hopelessly imperfect to knowing they are hopelessly imperfect with the ability to say “I’m o.k. and you’re o.k.”
Wow … thank you for sharing this! I’ve read it a few times today, considering how to respond. You’ve put it beautifully into words. So, perhaps I should just leave it at thank you.
“…we set out to fail at our one essential task as humans…” This concept of spending our lives in pursuit of perfection ~ which as you said, will never be achieved, is a little insane, no?
I also like the quote “It is only imperfection that complains of what is imperfect.” ~ Helps me to understand that the pursuit, the desire, the idea that we “should” be perfect, is nonsensical.
Thank you Mom ~ your gift of words teaches me so much!
Love,
Jane
Jane Rochelle recently posted..Are You Up For a Challenge
Hi Jane,
Love it! I chose the word love for the year because I felt my relationships needed a lift. It will be a great year.
Tess The Bold Life recently posted..110 Tips to Create an Amazing New Year
Hi Tess ~ Open your arms, and invite the love! You have so much to give, perhaps this is your year to receive.
Jane Rochelle recently posted..Wishcasting Wednesday &8230 What Do You Wish To Say Yes To
No one’s perfect. Not even ourselves, as much as we try to make ourselves be (most of the time). I think this is a gentle reminder for those of us who are looking for the “perfect” partner and just can’t find him/her. It’s no wonder — no one’s perfect!
Lindsay recently posted..Burn your boats
Hi Lindsay ~ That’s a great way to look at it. I hadn’t even considered that this aversion to, or ‘fear of’ imperfection keeps us from missing out on relationships we might have had. Keep your eye on the package ~
Have a great day!
Jane
Jane Rochelle recently posted..Wishcasting Wednesday &8230 What Do You Wish To Say Yes To