Acceptance

A very enlightening excerpt from '"Have a Little Faith" written by Mitch Albom:

“When we spoke a few weeks ago, I asked you what you thought about your parents. Do you remember?”

Sort of, I say

More laughter.

“I asked if you felt they were perfect, or if they needed improvement. And do you remember what you said?”

I freeze.

“You said they weren’t perfect, but…”

He nods at me. Go ahead. Speak.

But they don’t need improvement? I say.

“But they don’t need improvement,” he says. “This is very insightful. Do you know why?”

No, I say.

More laughter.

“Because it means you are willing to accept people as they are. Nobody is perfect. Not even Mom and Dad. That’s okay.”

He smiles and puts two hands on my head.

We were brought up in a society where there is little tolerance for mistakes, failure and imperfections. 

We need to constantly improve and upgrade. We need to become better. Often, we are taught to believe that we should sought for betterment and improvement in all things - to get higher scores in school, to get a higher-paying job, to catch up with the latest technology/fashion trend, etc. The list keeps multiplying and is never ending. 

When will we ever stop improving? They say that we shouldn't. 

If we allow ourselves some leeway, stop following the crowd blindly, we may start to see that accepting who we are and what we have may be right after all. 

Can we tell ourselves that it is okay if we are not as smart, not as well-to-do financially, not as successful as the rest of them? That the strive for perfection is never going to materialise, and therefore it is a fruitless attempt that derails us from focusing on accepting what is real and right before us?

We all need to less hard on ourselves in this mad race. The tidal currents are driving us towards one endless destination, but is this ultimately where we want to end up at? 

We are all not perfect, but do we really need improvement?