Living In a Perfect Society.....

I was thinking about this morning, if you could have one thing perfect in your life what would it be?

Is it a perfect body?  Family?  Ideal job? Clean house?  Bank account?  What would it be?

This has been on my mind, because I am learning through my life that nothing is perfect although we always seem to strive for that.  But what is Perfect?  Is it what we set for ourselves, or do we tend to gear towards what society thinks is perfect?

Take our bodies.  For me it didn't matter if I was 20 lbs overweight or 200 lbs overweight I was still referred to as an animal.  I have been through all this before, because I was seen as an animal, that is how I saw myself.  Today, I can see how I have lost weight, and whiles others say "Great Job, Laura!"  there are those that look me up and down and then proceed to give me their advice of how I need to go on a diet, lose weight etc.  But it doesn't stop with just our self image.

I look at families.  I remember a family who lived up the street from us my mom would call "the baby factory".  Why? Was it because of the amount of children (who I believe had one or two more than she did) or was it because it was the society standard to go against those with large families?  What about the wayward teenager?  Too many times I hear a parent say, "my child would never do that" or "he is so out of control he is no longer my problem".  Why could it never be your child or why is he/she is no longer your "problem"?

I have had jobs that were great and I loved and believe I even once had the perfect job.  But sometimes things happen in our "perfect societies" that we need to re-evaluate and try again.  The key to all this I believe is not striving for a "perfect life" but to strive for a way that we learn to stand up for what is right for us, not what is popular by society.

I am a BYU Fan and yes I have been "JIMMERED"!  Just when we thought life was getting perfect for BYU Basketball a snafu was thrown into the mix.  The day after making a 3rd ranking in the polls, it was announced one of the players had been suspended from the team for an honor code violation.  Immediately it was all over the news.  What became interesting to me were the people (mainly younger generation) who said, "So what it was only pre-martial sex.  Come to our school, you can drink, party, have sex as much as you want and not be judged." The older generation seemed to give a high five to BYU that they stuck to the rules and everyone is treated the same.  The thing that impressed me the most, was it was the player who came to them and admitted what he had done.  Coach Rose went on to say we put our arms around him to let him know he was loved and to help him back. 

I saw this as a great service of love.  On Seniors Day, Brandon was there with the team on the bench in street clothes.  The fans were behind Brandon, letting him know "yeah we all mess up...you're just being slung through the dirt.....but we are right here for you!" When it came time to cutting down the net, Brandon had to be found to cut down a piece and received a "Standing Ovation (SO)".  The SO was not about what he had done that made national headlines, it was about he did RIGHT that brought everyone to their feet. 

I have thought about Brandon in the last couple of weeks.  He has taught me, "Stand up for what is right, not what is popular."  I apply this to my own life this way.  People do not need to tell me I am overweight, I know that.  But I also learned instead of sitting there and feeling bad about the lecture or "advice" that was given me, I need to speak up for a people that often is looked at as not being strong enough.  That is hogwash, we are strong!!  We just need to stand up and say so!

Part of losing weight is about what you eat, but it is not the WHOLE PICTURE!!  You cannot fix the outside till we fix the inside. That means becoming stronger people!! And it means not letting the words and actions of others dictate what we know is right for us, not for society.

Sometimes we are going to fall, we need to get back up and try again.  Sometimes we are going to let society get to us and question our abilities, we need to get back up and keep trying. So what would I want perfect in my life?  Not sure. I know now that my weaknesses will become my strengths, and I never want to stop growing!  I have decided I no longer need a perfect life or society to live with in, I just need what is right for me. 


Whew!!  Now I feel better, coming down off my soapbox!!