Perceptions

Someone shared another person’s comment with me recently that has me thinking a lot about perceptions. While this person meant well by sharing a thought someone else had about my family, it hit me hard. The comment was not unkind, but in the context of our conversation I realized that someone was judging their own family life and using my family as their bar. My family being the high bar and theirs well…

Here is the thing, my family is my family. We have our trials and we have our triumphs. An outsider looking in may not see all the cracks in our facade, but they are there. Basically we are not perfect and we all know it. There is a lot of pressure for everyone when you hold someone up as better than you. My personality is such that when I heard that someone felt less than because of my family I wanted to call them and throw out my laundry list of what is broken and needs to be fixed in my families lives. The truth is we are all broken none of us is perfect. Honestly wasn't that Gods plan?

How will we ever learn about others without the brokenness? How will we ever learn about empathy and compassion if we do not face the truths in all of our lives? There is only one perfect one and he died so we could live. Our broken pieces and our imperfections are what make each of us unique and special. While I cannot help but be flattered by the perception someone has of my family, it is important to know that it is not the truth. We are just as broken here as everyone else is. Our family has trials and sadness, we make mistakes and we say and do things we wish we had not but in the end we are a family of people learning how to be better people, just like you.

Perceptions are tricky so you have to be careful, because when you judge what you see, you are only getting one view. There is more to each of us than meets the eye and by setting your bar at another’s level, you just might be cheating yourself. God has a plan for each of us. He puts things in front of us that are unique to who we are, things, events and people that will hopefully make us better people and in the end the lessons are different for each of us. At some point we have all looked at someone and believed them better than ourselves. Isn’t it nice to know that they really are not, that they are faced everyday with their own set of challenges and their own bars to meet? It makes being kind and understanding to others a lot easier when you know that they are just as broken and vulnerable as you are.