There is a special kind of beauty in imperfection.

My vacuum cleaner broke recently.  A plastic piece that attaches the hose to the vacuum cleaner is cracked.  To use the hose and its attachments - I have to push the broken plastic piece against the vacuum cleaner to create suction.  If done properly, my vacuum cleaner works like a charm.  Is it inconvenient?  You bet it is!  However,  I can not justify replacing a fairly new vacuum cleaner because of one manageable defect.  

Yesterday, as I was holding my vacuum 'together' while cleaning out my van with the hose attachment, I could not help but laugh when thinking back to all the quirky ways my husband and I have dealt with broken things over the years.   In Nebraska, a leaf on our kitchen table was broken, which caused one end of the table to be on a downward slant.  As you could imagine, if one was not careful - a glass or plate would slide right of the table.  During meal times, this seat was reserved for my husband or me.  We would always make sure to hold onto our plates and strategically position our drinking glasses so they would not fall off the table.   Our TV in Rhode Island would lose the picture occasionally.  The only remedy we knew was to smack it on the side a few times and whoa la - a perfect picture!  It was quite a sight to see our two-and-a-half-year-old run up to the television to give it a good smack, to resume watching her PBS programs.  Whenever we reminisce about our past, mishaps such as these are the things we laugh about and remember most - the imperfections in life.

In my opinion,  the same goes for people.  I have met people that possess some interesting qualities, to say the least.  Qualities that are far less than perfect.  However, rather than dismissing them from my life, I have always made an effort to look beyond their imperfections. Over the years, many of these people have become lifelong friends and have taught me the importance of love, friendship, and understanding.    A few years ago a dear friend of mine, whose unique personality took me a while to appreciate, died from cancer.  I thank God every day that I was able to overlook her imperfections to discover the true beauty that lay within her and be her friend.

I do realize that there comes a time when imperfections become too great.  Our slanted kitchen table and picture-less TV are long gone.  At times, it is necessary to let go of people from our lives whose imperfections are unhealthy for us and/or our families.    But for the imperfections that are not too great,  we have a choice to either be annoyed or learn to live with them.  

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person effectively."

Sam Keen