Think of an occasion when you felt like you weren’t quite good enough. This feeling of wishing you were taller, thinner, more attractive or [fill in the blank] can occur several times in life. Caring friends may remind you that “you are perfect just the way you are.” After rolling your eyes, stop for a minute and let that sink in. What does it mean to be perfect? Is it the made-up, pumped-up, plumped-up, Hollywood version of perfection? Is it the ability to know just what to say to impress people? Is it some magical charisma that other people are gifted with? Or is it realizing that being a unique individual is the true answer?
I know this to be true, but when I quiet my mind, I can almost feel the various layers of my being resisting the idea. How can I be perfect? Clearly, the universe has not seen the junk drawer in my kitchen.
It is easy for me to deliver this kind of universal truth to clients, friends, and loved ones. As with so many lessons in life, however, it is much easier to accept love within other people than to acknowledge it within ourselves. It has been an ongoing process for me to embrace the idea of unconditional love within myself.
