Muddy

I realized something about myself today.  Nothing earth shattering, but helpful for me.  It seems the older I get, the less I see life in black and white and the more I see in gray.  I'm OK with that.  Instead of becoming more conservative, I'm becoming more liberal.  Life is messy.  There is no way around it.  There is just really nothing neat and put together about it.  I'm OK with that.  I am becoming much more comfortable with all the messiness and less so with the "we must always look as if we have everything wrapped up in a nice bow because we don't want anyone to know we don't have it all together" crowd.  NO ONE has it all together.  NO ONE.  Everyone who is alive is in the messiness.  Let's stop pretending everything is OK when it's not.  Let's stop trying to fool ourselves.  Let's start finding ways to support each other in the messiness.  Let's just be who we are and try our best to love each other where we meet.  I'll be honest.  Even in the discomfort of messiness, I feel more at home in the messiness than I do in the cardboard "we have it all together" place.  I have a greater love for those admitting the mess than those who do not.  I'm in my own messiness.  Let's stop saying our toys are better than your toys will ever be.  Let's step out of our comfort zones and look at other ideas.  Better yet, let's move all that stuff aside and look at each other as God's children.  Each unique.  Each with something to contribute.  Each loved.  This works in politics, religion, and life.  Please help me work on this in my own life!  "Acceptance does not mean approval." Dr. Cynthia Bishop (social work professor at Meredith College)