“You’re such a hippie,”  someone told me last weekend.
“Guilty as charged,”  I admitted with a chuckle.  I prefer the term “free spirit” or “Bohemian goddess,”  but I’m okay with “hippie.”
Actually, I don’t think I fall into any one particular category.  I’ll bet you don’t either.  The important thing, I think, is to embrace your whole self,  whoever that is, in all its aspects. 
Once we’re okay with who we are, then we can start to find ways to use “the real us” to contribute to the grand scheme of things.  
Personally, I have wasted too much precious time fretting over things about myself that I don’t like, when I should have been looking for ways to use them constructively.
For example, (and this is kind of a  stupid one) I used to hate the fact that I’m not graceful.  In fact, I am just plain clumsy sometimes.  I always have been.  If I’m not spilling something on my clothes, I’m tripping over my own feet.
I finally figured out that my lack of grace emphasizes my humanness, and can actually ingratiate me to people. 
The last time I spoke publicly, I had to start by apologizing to the audience for the big wet spot on the front of my skirt.  Just as I was getting ready to leave home, I dropped a glop of makeup on it and had to wash it out quickly.  They laughed and felt more at ease.  None of them knew me and may have thought of me as the aloof guest speaker.  After sharing the skirt incident, they knew I was just a regular gal — very human and very approachable.
On another occasion, it was a brunch.  After we ate, and I got up to speak, I noticed that I had gotten muffin crumbs all over the carpet around my seat.
You would have thought a two-year-old child had been sitting there.  At that time too, I had to begin my spiel with an apology for making such a mess of their lovely room. 
Again, it served to break the ice and make everyone laugh and relax a little.
Most likely, I will never be graceful.  I will always be free-spirited.  And there are plenty of other things that will go with me to my grave. 
But at this point in my life, I am totally fine with all of it — the whole package.   I hope you can say the same.   God can use us all, just as we are, to make a difference in this world (even hippies with make up on their skirt).
Thanks for giving me a moment of your time.


See www.Marlas Moments.com . for more from Marla Cross.  A new  blog is posted each Sunday.