"You Complete Me"

I would imagine that most of you have seen the movie Jerry Maguire, or at least heard the over-quoted line, "You complete me". Despite how the movie ends, at this point in the film, Renee Zellweger's character believes that Jerry Maguire is the yin to her yang, the one thing that will make her life perfect. This is a lovely thought, isn't it? The idea that there's one person in this world who will make everything amazing and who will somehow, through their own perfectness, make all of our problems disappear would be a comforting thought. Maybe you've never fallen prey to this idea in relationships, but have you ever thought "If only...?" If only I had this or that thing, my life would be so much better!

Last night I had the opportunity to photograph Jon & Michele's 25th wedding anniversary celebration through the renewal of their vows. Twenty-five years! Wow! They are an amazing couple and I think part of the success in their marriage probably has to do with the fact that they don't look to each other for completeness. I don't want to put words in their mouths, or boil the success of their entire marriage down to one statement, but I would guess that both of them hold their hope to be complete elsewhere. And, that "elsewhere" cannot be found on this Earth, or in the form of another human or in the next best thing.

I'm also reading Don Miller's latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. Towards the end of the book, Miller talks about how he believes that many of us are living life by just waiting for that big moment to happen...forever hoping that this thing or that, this person or that, will make us complete. In the meantime, we're wasting much of the time we're given TODAY. His take on the whole thing is to start living a better "story" right now, at this very moment. Don't wait until the planets align and everything is just so because honestly, that will probably never happen. I don't mean to be negative, but it's just a reminder (to myself mostly) that I need to stop wasting time waiting for something...for something to make things better. I need to make a difference now! I need to just take the steps, day-by-day, to live a better story. Life is not perfect for anyone. Why then, do I continue to look for wordly things to complete me and to make everything perfect?

What are you doing to live a better story?