Personal Flaws

            I don’t know you, but I can assume you are a flawed individual. We are all flawed in some way.  I am most certainly flawed and can point out a few flaws, but those who know me can point out quite a few more. Why are we so blinded to our own flaws? Jesus touches on this when he talks about sin and how we should remove the plank out of our eye before confronting someone else about the speck in theirs. And it is true. We could have a major, glaring flaw and not even notice it or think it is worth removal, but someone else could have a minor flaw and we will stop at nothing until that speck is gone.

            I see this in the workplace; people giving other people “helpful” advice that they themselves won’t even try. And I most certainly see it in my marriage. I could tell you every flaw that my husband has. Some of them you would agree with and some you may not think are even that big of a deal, but they are flaws none the less.

            It is so difficult to see our own flaws, much like it is difficult to see the other side of an argument. Many people claim to be open minded and they are until you have a discussion or debate with them. All of a sudden it is their way or no way. My husband will bring this up when we argue. He will tell me that I feel I am always right, but who doesn’t think they are right? Would you believe something you thought was wrong? All of our confidence could be based on lies, but we will have the confidence as long as we believe those lies. If we didn’t think we were right we would believe something else and then we would think we were right.

            As you can tell by my blog, one of my flaws is rambling. I can ramble on about nothing and can speak rather quickly when nervous. I notice it when I am nervous, but I don’t see it most of the time. My husband points it out, but sometimes I wonder if I really do it. Do I ramble that much in conversation? I don’t notice it, but he does. Does anyone else? I hope not, but then I start to wonder if I ramble in interviews. Is it that flaw that prevents me from getting a job? Am I being sabotaged by a flaw I can’t even see?

            Sometimes I feel we are lucky we can’t see out flaws. I think we are happier and less self conscious because of our ignorance. I hate it when my husband points out my flaws because it affects the way I think, talk, and act. I worry that others are thinking, “Man, I wish this girl would shut up.” And I’m sure my comments to him leave him feeling in a similar way. So while I believe it is kind of nice to be blinded to our flaws, I sometimes wish it was easier to see our flaws and more difficult to see the flaws of others. I think we would be nicer people because we would be able to embrace our imperfections and forgive the imperfections of others.

            However, this is not life. In life we tend to ignore or excuse our flaws while wanting to place a spotlight on the flaws of others. I think we need to just focus on ourselves. We should take Jesus’ advice and fix our flaws and just ignore those of others. We know how badly it hurts to have someone point out our flaws; do we really want to do that to others? I try to believe I have tact, but tact does not entirely change the affect the comments many have.