I was on my way home from the gymnasium at about 5:30 this morning when a radio commentator made an interesting statement. He was asking listeners to go to the radio station's website. He mentioned there was a photo of him to one side of the web page. Then he commented that people should "forgive him" for the photo displayed there. I don't know if he was being facetious, but it seemed he was unhappy with the photo.

His comment made me realize that many people are unhappy with their appearance or other aspects of their lives. And this dissatisfaction runs through our society.

I once read an article about movie stars and the parts of their bodies that they would like to change. These were famous actors and actresses, names we recognize immediately. They represented what many consider to be paragons of physical attraction. Many of them thought they were too fat, or too thin. Some wished their noses were smaller. Others thought their stomachs protruded too much. When I looked at their photos I thought they were outstandingly attractive.

The point is that many of us seem dissatisfied with our appearance or other aspects of our lives. But is there really a perfect human being? The popular media shows us the ideal, the “perfect” human being. This wonderful human is beautiful, rich, brilliant, or strong. This mythical creature may have godlike attributes. But this person doesn't exist.

And this person doesn't exist for one reason: none of us are frozen in time. At the moment we think this perfect creature exists, change sets in. We humans are in flux. We are changing moment by moment. We are becoming grayer, fatter, thinner, smarter or dumber. The story of being alive is found in the midst of change.

As recovering people we need to learn to accept ourselves. Having limitations is part of human existence. While we may think what we have or how we appear is paramount, there are other aspects of our lives that are much more important. Our appearance and the things we have can be very fleeting.