Fortune Cookie Friday: They’re More Like Guidelines

At first, when I read today’s fortune, I was not sure if I agreed with it. I put it down and stared out the window of my office, at all of the beautiful things God created. All are wondrous and perfect – well, except for the platypus; I still don’t get that one. There is no way I could create something that was perfect, especially with my mild anal retentiveness. The best that I could ever do would be my best, but that would never be perfect. This may seem depressing at first thought, but let me continue.

When Barbossa, from The Pirates of the Caribbean (2003), tells his captive about the pirate’s code he says, “The code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules;” It makes me think of how my kids try to bend our house rules to their whims. Sometimes I would acquiesce to their mischievous methods; other times I would berate them with the clichés that all parents use.

It is important to understand that rules are there for a reason. They give us a set of standards to follow and, in many cases, keep us safe. We use rules to mold our children into honest, polite, respectable people. We are not perfect, but that does not mean we are a bad mold. We can still create beautiful people and things.

Our children will never be the perfect “statues” that this fortune claims, because the mold will always have a flaw. We should accept that and be content that they are pliable enough to correct their wrongs. If, like a statue, we cast ourselves in a permanent medium, then we would never be able to buff away the imperfections.