And so today, and every moment, I try to implement a better guidance system toward the immutable truths. It would be difficult to know the storms I’ve been asked to walk through without the protection of an umbrella. So, please don’t associate me and my flaws with the immutable truths I hold sacred.
To be certain, there are times I wish my book of life were written in pencil. There are a few pages I would like to erase and rewrite. But, life has been beautiful because of the secrets locked up in my imperfections, flaws and frailties. I’m not perfect. I sometimes stumble as I walk through the passage of life … sometimes over the same stumbling block. I’ve hurt others, but when I say I’m sorry, I mean it, and I do my best to make corrections toward those immutable truths I hold sacred.
I believe in our God-given free agency. Now, to be clear, free agency is only an opportunity to adjust our future; to make choices. Free agency is distinct from the concept of free will … the ability to act at one’s own discretion. Free agency is closely linked to the concepts of responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgments which apply only to actions that are freely chosen. Free agency is not given to harm others, but harming others is a choice frequently made as we adjust our future. Each of us are blessed with free agency that touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality—as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement—without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions.
And on this, and every day, please know me as I am, and not who you think I should be. Please don’t place me on a pedestal, for I am sure to fall. Just love me as I am, flaws and all. I am not all that I should be, but I’m definitely not fake. I can tell a lot about a person by what they choose to see in me. If you hesitate between me and another person, please don’t choose me.
Don’t judge me because my flaws are different than yours. No one heals themselves by wounding another. Each of us exhibit flaws, whether they be like yours or mine. We need to learn the truths that are immutable … those that never change, and we need to learn them and hold them close to our inner core. And when the truth hurts, I need to measure that variance, and set in motion my control system to take me back to what I believe in … those never-changing truths in life.