imperfect and unfinished, but not done

​I am imperfect. That has always been true, it still is, and it will always be.

There are parts of me that are unfinished. That has always been true, it still is, and it will always be.

And the story of my life today doesn't exactly look like the story I wish I was living. That has always been true, it still is, and it will always be.

Those are three giant truths I bring to this new day and this new week. Knowing those truths sets the stage for making one giant choice about how I'll approach this new day and week.

Are those truths my prison?

Or are those truths showing me the way?

Because every bit of unfinished business in our lives, every imperfection, ever way that life shows up that we wish would be different, every one of those things is either a blindfold or a magnifying glass.

Every one of those things is either closing doors on us or opening a whole lot of them to show us the way. Which? That is up to us and not to those things.

We get to decide whether we slip the blindfold over our eyes or pick up the magnifying glass to better see which way to go next.

Because if you're breathing, here is another giant truth. The possibility of next is in front of you.

If you've lost a job, there is either never going to be another job or the next one is waiting on you.

If you've lost a relationship, there is either no new relationship ever or you're being better prepared for the next one.

If you're battling a habit or an addiction, this is either the day it tightens its grip on you or the day you pry loose from that grip and start doing a little gripping yourself.

If you wish you could run a mile but can barely run 100 yards, then you get to decide. One hundred yards isn't good enough, or 100 yards today is a beautiful opportunity to get 100 yards closer to my wish.

You get to decide.

Blindfold or magnifying glass.

You get to decide.

Prison forever or this is part of the process.

Sometimes those truths suck. Bad. I have unfinished business. I have a boat load of imperfections. Life doesn't look like I would prefer life to look. The weight of all of those truths can sometimes be overwhelming.

I get it.

I get that they are overwhelming, but please don't let them bury you.

Find someone today and just be real about those three truths in your life. My guess is that someone will confess the very same truths in their life.

Then, commit to each other. We will not let each other take those truths into a prison.

Commit to always showing each other the way. Not to finished business. Not to perfection. Not to an ideal life. Not to any of that, but instead, commit to showing each other to the next step.

Because once we believe in a next step, once THAT is the greatest truth in our life, we will always find it.

We will never pick up a blindfold again.