Accepting Perfect

I have the perfect vision of the day in my mind. Everyone is talking and laughing around the tables, set with the colors of fall, plates filled with all of our traditional Thanksgiving favorites. The kids, after dinner, are lying on the floor with pillows, playing cards and watching the game on television – two families and some friends, coming together to share a pleasant day. Realistically, I know only some of what I have envisioned will occur, and some of it will not.

My “perfect,” and that of my husband are slightly different. A conversation we had about, of all things, the weather prediction for Thanksgiving, made me think about one person’s perception of perfect, versus another’s. He would love to experience a California Thanksgiving from our past, where we set up dinner on the porch, everyone hung out around the pool in the late afternoon, and we wrapped things up watching the sunset. My perfect would be a chill in the air with overcast skies, making the house feel warm and cozy, for late afternoon hibernation after the feast.

Each of us had our rationale for wanting the Thanksgiving Day experience we had envisioned, and more importantly, for why we were thinking the way we were. I certainly can’t change the weather, but with this simple insight, I can manage to compromise on a few other pieces in order to help make what could be a pretty hectic day a positive experience for both of us.

So, the moral of the story....

During this Thanksgiving week, and into the holiday season, it might be interesting to stop and ask your child, husband, or maybe just ponder this for yourself; what makes “perfect” for you, and why is it so?