Nobody’s Perfect.

No One Is Perfect.

This is something we’ve all heard our entire lives, yet for many people, it doesn’t stop them from striving to attain perfection, then becoming sorely disappointed when it doesn’t happen.  I’m certainly guilty of this.  I want so much to do things the right way, the first time.  If I get something wrong in school, or a work task, I beat myself up inside because of the mistake.  This is ultimately self-destructive.  Because if nobody is perfect, then you’ll always be chasing something impossible.  It’s exhausting.  Not only are you striving for something that will never be, but you have to be on the alert to make sure that nothing you do can be criticized. By anyone.  This is absurd, because there’s always going to be someone that doesn’t like you or something you do.  Wanting to be perfect is in essence giving validation power away to some external entity. 

Being perfect is, to me, being one dimensional.  If you do everything right and make no mistakes, you can’t grow as a person.  You’ll do the same things the same way all the time because that’s the Right Way to Do Things.

Now, I do not advocate settling or for mediocrity.  I’ve had to find a way to merge this philosophy and my perfectionist tendencies and this is what I’ve come up with:  Instead of striving to be perfect, I now strive to be the best version of me that I can attain.  In doing so, I take back those validation powers.  Now my self worth comes from within.  Being my best self means that not everyone is going to like me or be my friend, but that doesn’t matter. 

It’s important to actually think about what being your best self actually looks like.  For me, a HUGE part of who I am and how I value myself is setting goals and accomplishing them.  When I do that, I feel good; I feel like I’m sprinting toward my optimum self.  Finally, it’s equally as important to realize that you may never reach the BEST EVER POSSIBLE VERSION of yourself. This is okay.  It’s the journey that is important.

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