Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships, as in when is it OK to end a relationship that is no longer fulfilling.
And, does that change when it’s family?
The other night, my father-in-law told me my butt is flat.
Squirrel told me not to take it personally which struck me as funny because it hadn’t even occurred to me to take it personally. I was too busy trying to figure out how someone drops “your butt is flat” into casual conversation.
He said it so matter-of-factly – as though he was commenting on the weather or the football score.
I tried to remember a time when I gave his butt any thought, but nothing came to me.
I wondered whether there was a deeper message here. Was he reflecting back to me a part of myself I hadn’t completely accepted?
Then, I remembered a quote I once read – the only quote on dealing with difficult people that ever made sense to me:
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So, I’ve taken his comment as a sign of sorts, to let go of judgement and vanity and focus on creating a fuller, rounder, more pert inner life.
He probably won’t notice that at the next family gathering, but at least I’ll have something to be thankful for.
