Glorious Mess

This quote landed in my Inbox the other day.  I love quotes.  I love to find new ones to kick start my day or to find inspiration in or to motivate me. If we are Facebook friends (if not, we should be!!), you know this about because I post them a lot.  But this quote - it shook me.  A mess?  Why would this quote find its way into a "Inspiratonal Quote of the Day" series??

It's my favorite quote ever.

Every day we all wake up and do out very best to present ourselves to the outside world as productive, responsible, put-together, non-mess adults.  We edit our Facebook posts to only show the positives in our life.  Instagram is just snapshots of the split seconds of our days that are cute, funny, or share-worthy.  But seriously?!  Is there anyone you know that really has it all together?

What we hide from the world is our mess.  But why?  Are we afraid that people will think less of us?  Scared that we won't be that perfect neighbor or the co-worker with it all figured out?

I am a mess.  And this past year, I was the biggest mess I have ever been.  But I hide my mess.  I kept the messy emotions and needs deep down inside --- from the outside, I was managing my career, household, medical incidents, and everything else with organization, strength, and humor.  Underneath, a total mess.  The humor --- can't cry when you are laughing.  The strength - well, I was the sole able adult at our house for a couple weeks; did I really have a choice about putting my two feet on the floor running every morning?   Organized?  Yea, a little.  At the beginning, my medical binder came off the bookshelf - doctor notes, test results, and insurance paperwork was filed by date immediately.  Now, the binder really a folder of papers not in their sections and most definitely not in date order.  But the info is there so that's a plus right?!

It wasn't until a friend reached out and said "I know you are a mess and so I am stepping in to help" that I realized, showing my mess inside isn't a bad thing.  That people understand.  That they are a mess too.  And that sometimes being a mess is better than being all put together.

My mess IS my strength.  It makes me ME.  It makes my days interesting - never know what's going to happen!  It makes me push ahead to the next day, to the next challenge.   It makes me human and life more interesting.

So, let's show our messes - our real glorious selves.