Talane’s Blog of the Week, July 16, 2007

Attraction Principle #5
The Present is Always Perfect

In this new series on The Laws of Attraction, I thought I’d include a basic spiritual law: the present is perfect. I am sure you’ve probably heard of it before but most people don’t really understand it. How can the present be perfect when you are sick or have just broken a leg? How can the present be perfect when you have massive credit card debt? How can the present be perfect when your boyfriend just dumped you? It certainly doesn’t look or feel perfect in any of these situations. So if the law doesn’t change, then how is all this stuff perfect?

The late Thomas Leonard once said that in order for a relationship to really work in the long run, you have to love your partner’s flaws and imperfections. Or at least, find them somewhat charming. Then it becomes true that you have a “perfect” husband or wife. They are perfect for you, flaws and all. So the same works in life. You need to appreciate the perfection in the imperfections. When I was taking pottery classes in New York, I held up my rather wobbly, misshapen bowl and muttered something about it being highly flawed. My teacher, Michael, said, “If you want a perfect bowl, go to Pottery Barn and get one. The beauty lies in the flaws.” So, in that sense, my bowl was indeed perfect. Perhaps more perfect than the one at Pottery Barn, thanks to its flaws. Okay, now let’s take the harder leap of faith. How is a broken leg perfect? Or credit card debt?

Years ago, my sister was becoming an avid runner and then went skiing for the first time and blew out her knee. After surgery, the doctors said she would never run again. She was in rehabilitation for months, started doing yoga and can now run again, but she has no cartilage left in that knee. If she runs, she is basically wearing down the bone. Not a good long term strategy. While at first she was saying, why me and bemoaning her lost knee, she later realized that she was going down a very athletic path in life and that her real destiny is more intellectual, not physical. The universe stopped her in her tracks. So you could say the injured knee was perfect (not that I’d wish it on anyone).

What about credit card debt? When I was up to my eyeballs in debt, I realized that I needed to learn how to manage my money better or, when the real riches rolled in, I would squander them. And, I learned that my spending was driven by an unmet emotional need to be cherished. Until I learned how to fulfil my deeper needs, I would continue to overspend. Once I got my need to be cherished met, then the overspending stopped naturally. The debt was perfect because it forced me to face the facts about my spending habits and also my emotional needs.

What looks imperfect in your life? If you imagine yourself describing this event or situation in ten years, how would you describe it as perfect? For example, after I broke up with the man I thought I was going to marry, I was heartbroken and even depressed for a good year. Now, I feel nothing but gratitude because if it hadn’t been for him, I never would have bought a house in the mountains that turned out to be one of the best financial investments I have made.

If you can realize that the present is perfect right now, you’ll be much calmer when dealing with the seemingly “bad” stuff of life.

Enjoy!
Talane