The Perfect Cup

The Perfect Cup
Joyce Rupp

it is time for me
to see the flaws
of myself
and stop being alarmed.

it is time for me
to halt my drive
for perfection
and to accept
my blemishes.

it is time for me
to receive
slowly evolving growth,
the kind that comes
in God's own good time
and pays no heed
to my panicky pushing.

it is time for me
to embrace
my humanness,
to love my incompleteness.

it is time for me
to cherish
the unwanted,
to welcome
the unknown,
to treasure
the unfulfilled.

if i wait to be
perfect
before i love myself,
i will always be
unsatisfied
and ungrateful.

if i wait until
all the flaws, chips,
and cracks disappear,
i will be the cup
that stands on the shelf
and is never used.

Perspectives

In my head it's like I'm outside looking in.
And everyone around me is caught up in their sin
and false pretensions.
And while I'm outside looking in, I realize--
everyone else is looking out.
Inside, I see goodness--
potentially blinding light.
Outside, I see grey...
A meld of persons, places, and things
who each have an inside too.
This observation of perspective makes me question.
Who are we to judge or to not accept?
What inside us makes us feel so,
so damn superior to them?
To anyone?
As I sit here looking out I see within--
a reflection of myself is
represented each time I look out.
And although I may not like what I see...
C'est la vie.

Balie Waldhelm
1/8/2013

Has anyone felt like this?

That's my thing...
Cutting myself from the inside out using words instead of knives.
One little mistake and hell breaks loose.
Cut after cut, blood drips down the inside of my skin,
wanting to escape to relieve the pain of my inferiority.
Watching as others do the same things I can do-
and take pride in
and better.
Is this life?
Is the meaning of life to be insecure and unhappy?
To hate and hate aspects of yourself so fully shouldn't be acceptable.
I have such high expectations for myself and others-
I often forget we are simply human.
Humans are such awesome things
and we take advantage of ourselves.
But also, we underestimate ourselves so greatly that even more often,
we believe we cannot
when we most definitely can.
That is the meaning of life-
to overcome the uselessness of insecurity.
To be who you want to be regardless of what
others tell you-
But most importantly... Yourself.
Unless you're awesome.