If you think of the “As Is” section of a store, it is filled with merchandise that may be dented, broken, and left unloved in a corner because it isn’t perfect enough.
I was having a conversation tonight with a friend about how some parents can’t seem to love their children “As Is.”
We are all in the “As Is” section in life. Some of us are just a little dented around the corners, a bit scratched up here and there, but certainly none of us are perfect.
If none of us are perfect than how come we expect so much of others? How come our love is conditional toward the ones we love most? Too often, parents put undue pressure on their children to be perfect or they won’t be loved.
People, no matter who they are, should be loved for themselves, as they are and for whom they are. There should be no strings attached. No one should be asking the other to change in exchange for love. If you love that person, why would you want them to change? They wouldn’t be them anymore…
I have tried many many times to change for other people and it never turned out well. I would change how I dressed, how I lived, what I ate, hoping that compliance would yield acceptance and ultimately love.
In the end, I just felt empty.
We need to stop trying to change people into who we think they should be in order to be loved. We all have frayed edges stitched back together with determination.
It’s what give us all character.
How does that saying go? “If there were no cracks, how would the light get in? “
Own your “As Is”ness. I think it’s beautiful.