The Percfect Shell

It is a beautiful morning in Ocean City, Md. A tropical depression went past the coast a few days ago and in it's wake left clear crisp air, beautiful sunshine, and surf that is still a little angry-providing majestic waves, much to the surfer's delight. I walked along the beach this morning, taking advantage of my surroundings to get my exercise. Because of the force of the waves over the last few days, the beach is littered with shells.
There are shells of all shapes and sizes and colors. As I walked along I realized that while there were literally tens of thousands of shells...I didn't see a perfect shell. Now I didn't look at every single shell up close... as a matter of fact I simply glanced through most of them thinking surely a perfect shell would stand out among the crowd. But none jumped out and said to me "Hey I am the perfect shell!"
I did pick up a few that from a distance looked to be perfectly shaped, but soon found that these had multiple aestethic flaws...little tiny chips, broken pattern rings, microscopic holes...As I was doing this it dawned on me that maybe I don't know what a perfect shell is? Maybe, a perfect shell is different from one person to the next? Maybe there are no perfect shells? Maybe each shell is perfect the way it is? Maybe it doesn't matter what I think about each shell?
The truth is that each shell on the beach has beauty and perfection in it's own unique way. Certainly I can judge whether I think a shell is pretty or not...but that gives me no right to make that determination for anyone else.
Prospecting is a little bit like this. If you spend all your time looking for the perfect prospect...you may never find them...because who is perfect? And...what gives you or I the right to expect anyone to be? The truth is that every one is uniquely made by God and is perfectly themselves. That doesn't mean their behavior or thoughts or anything else is perfect, but on the other hand it means that they are blessed with their own set of skills, and gifts, and talents, and affinities, etc.
The perfect prospect is simply the next person you talk to. Because they can do what it takes if they have the need, and the desire to act on the need. So you can see the beach full of shells and say "alas there are no shells perfect enough"...or you can say "each of these shells has it's own beauty and I have an endless supply of shells to touch."