Life Does Not Have to be Perfect

"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful."             Annette Funicello

Annette Funicello was a "mouseketeer" on the Disney special, The Mickey Mouse Show, which premiered during the mid 1950's.  I watched it at 5:00 pm each day at the house of a neighbor, the only one on the block to have the new luxury, a television set.  Cartoons were interspersed with singing, dancing and skits by a group of young teens in beanie caps adorned with large mouse ears.  Later, Annette was the one playing volleyball on the beach in a modest one-piece bathing suit in the Disney Beach Party mindless teen movies.  Disney stars signed contracts requiring modest dress on and off the set, no smoking or other behavior unbefitting a role model. His goal was clean, happy entertainment.  But I digress.  Annette blossomed into a vibrant young beauty and was in several movies and had several TV appearances.    She surprised many when upon her big Catholic wedding announced she intended to leave show business to focus on a career as a wife and mother.  Later, as a mother of teen-agers, she did some Skippy peanut butter commercials with her kids and some reunion shows.  Then what some would call tragedy hit.  She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and this once beautiful dancer walked first with a cane and then not at all.  She continues to live with the same grace and cheerfulness and it was in this phase of her life that she asserted, "Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful."

That phrase runs through my mind often.  It reminds me to keep my eyes and ears and heart open to the gifts and joys around me even in the most difficult and trying times.  I don't want the shadows to keep me from recognizing and enjoying the bright spots in each day.  I am consciously choosing to savor, linger where I can and fully enjoy each good and pleasant moment.  Cumulatively, the moments do more than sustain me during difficulties-- they lessen the impact of the painful and weighty elements;  and I find myself less rattled by the insignificant- and less shaken by the significant losses and blows.  I am more grateful and at peace than I was in younger years and trust that all will work together for my eternal good regardless of what "tragedies" I and my loved ones will pass through.   Thanks, Annette.