Hey, it's me. I've been thinking again...
So for my birthday (way back in December, but i don't blog that often) I got a gift card to The Buckle to buy some new jeans. It was a super fun present, for sure, and it was a fun shopping trip as well. I must have tried on 30 pairs of jeans and ended up finding a couple that I really liked. (Side note, no one in their right mind should pay that much for jeans, BUT, they ARE now my very favorite pair I've ever owned, ever.) As I was trying them on, the sales girl, Tracy, would ask me what I liked about which pair and if I needed different sizes or different wash. She ran around the store like a champ finding me all the jeans in my size. She was fantastic!
But, that's actually not the point. The point is, I was looking for what I thought were beautiful jeans, but beautiful to me meant fun things sewn onto the back pockets, like sparkly thread and line designs, contrasting stitching, and I like imperfections and worn spots. I even like an occasional hole! For some reason, that makes them "look cool" these days, which I can appreciate because I like unique things, and those types of things make the jeans unique. As I was in the midst of trying on the plethora of jeans, and every time I wear the ones I ended up buying, I think of a story I heard in general conference about leaves.
Here's the story:
"A few months ago I had an opportunity to take a morning walk on a mountain trail with four of my grandchildren. We each brought a bag so we could collect treasures from nature. As we looked for pieces to put in our collection, we found many different colors, designs, and textures in the leaves and rocks. It was hard to choose. I soon noticed that the children’s bags were filling up. Each leaf the children selected was unique, but because it was late fall, most of the leaves had dark weathered spots, irregular shapes, or faded and discolored parts. Because of this, I was reluctant to add things to my bag. I was looking for a leaf that showed the brightest colors and had no flaws. If it wasn’t perfect, I wasn’t going to treasure it. But this meant that my bag had very little in it.
Later, as I thought about this experience, I realized that I had cheated myself of much delight and happiness that could have been mine. I didn’t appreciate the uniqueness of the objects because I was looking for what I had deemed perfection. My grandchildren had been wiser than I had been. They had savored the odd shapes and spots on the leaves. They giggled at and enjoyed the brittle crispness of the dying leaves, and they delighted in the soft, faded colors. They filled their bags with happy treasures to take home. We can fail to see and enjoy the unique happiness and beauty in each day if we are so focused on our desire for what we want instead of what the Lord has designed for us." (Coleen K. Menlove, April 2000 General Conference, https://lds.org/general-conference/2000/04/living-happily-ever-after?lang=eng)
Reading this story again, I actually came away with a completely different point than when I originally heard it in conference 10 years ago (amazing I remembered the story though, huh) :) AND, i still came away with yet a different point than Sister Menlove. Originally, I had been thinking about myself and how sometimes I wish I were perfect, or what I think the world deems as perfect. Sometimes I start hatin' on myself because I don't look like a movie-star in a magazine (who have all been airbrushed anyway) or I don't like certain things or I'm scared of stuff or want to be like someone else and have talents I don't have or just haven't developed. (I actually don't do this as much anymore. I'm pretty happy with who I am these days.) Reading the story about the leaves again recently, and thinking about my jeans, I thought of it as seeing other people as imperfect, when really it's the "imperfections" that make them so wonderful. (can you imagine if we were all the same? Boring. Even after this life as exalted beings, we're all going to be the same? I don't think so.) We all have our own strengths and talents and, as I like to call them, perfections. Christ commands, "...ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." (3 Nephi 12:48) and again in the New Testament, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48...weird, same verse number)
I think as a society, we think the word perfect means "Being without defect or blemish" (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/perfect) which is a definition, yes, but I think it's more fitting, and more in line with the scriptures, because we're NOT all the same, to think of perfection this way, "Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/perfect ...Interesting that the later is actually definition number one.) Instead of thinking about ourselves and others as being scarred or damaged, try thinking of yourself and them as a perfect being God created for the perfect time and perfect place to help you become better. "lacking nothing essential..." I love that! All of us have all the right tools and resources to accomplish whatever we want and more importantly whatever God wants us to do. It's all there! Just believe it's there, change the way you think, and you'll be amazed by your own abilities, and it will feel as if a miracle has occurred. And I believe changing the way you think DOES create miracles. (I'll blog about that next.)
So back to the jeans. I love "flawed" jeans. They're perfect! They "lack nothing essential" and their "imperfections" make them beautiful. I'm coming around to the same feelings about people. I love people. I love how we're all different and we all have something unique and beautiful about each of us. We all have something fantastic to contribute, and we're all here to learn and grow from one another. Imagine if we all picked one person to feel this way about. And then, imagine if we all felt this way about everyone... Zion anyone? :) So I guess, in a round about way, my entirely too expensive jeans make me think of loving people and creating Zion. Worth the money I paid for them? Absolutely. :)
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