Ugly Babies
“A face only a mother could love.” – Unknown
Ever notice how ugly other peoples babies can be?
But not my sons. Nope. Handsome steeds from the very moment they squeezed their way down Mommy main street.
I mean, these two dudes couldn’t have been more handsome. From day one. Really.
Really?
Or did they both really resemble a short, fat, 70 year old man…like most babies do. Some bald, some with a squished head. Some with eyes pointing different directions for a few weeks, and some with features that simply don’t match up proportionately.
Isn’t it possible…that the marvel and wonder that accompanied my birth-time gazes upon these little freaks, was fueled by connections I made between their toothless, screaming voices and my own lifelong journey from “then” to “now”.
Isn’t it possible that I had no choice but to love them instantly, and to think they were the most beautiful creatures that ever landed on earth (UFO reference, you know…because they can look quite alien)…because in my mind, I saw only the infinite potential that both possessed, and my chance to help mold and shape their destiny.
And isn’t it possible that while sort-of-greyish and misshapen when first born, our children still appear to all of us as simply magnificent, because we don’t really see what’s literally in front of us…but instead, we see what they represent.
We don’t see them through a cultural lens, interpreting what is ‘beautiful’ and what is not. We see them through our own lens, our own filter, based on experiences and love and hardships and hope.
All babies are beautiful. It’s just a matter of how you look at them.
I think there is a great lesson to be learned in the fact that we can learn to love anything. Because it is often those things we don’t want to do, or are afraid of…that stand between us and our best selves.
The military has an expression for this: Embrace the Suck.
Mondays…most people don’t like them. Most people would say that Monday’s suck.
But you know what? Be grateful for Monday. Embrace the Suck.
Embrace Mondays for what they represent…our eternal and renewable opportunity to “start again”.
- Don’t like what you did last weekend? Start Monday.
- Didn’t make the progress you wanted last week? Start Monday.
- Determined to kick ass at work and earn that promotion, ‘someday’. Start Monday.
- Avoiding that uncomfortable conversation with someone in your personal life? Start Monday.
- Been looking for the right time to start a new routine? Start Monday.
- Been meaning to volunteer in the community? Start Monday.
All Mondays are beautiful. It’s just a matter of how you look at them.
