Imperfections

Perfection was something I was chasing for a very long time, in all aspects of my life. I would not accept anything less then perfect from myself and everything I was putting my time and effort into. Needless to say this created a whole heap of stress.

Exams and tests are pushed on us in all different forms. At school your would sit tests and exams and be graded accordingly. A less then perfect score could affect you finial graduation mark, your uni application and ultimately, your career. Throughout my Physiotherapy degree, it was perfection in our treatment techniques that we were after. Hand placement, direction or force and degree of application, home exercise programs and instruction had to be done with precision to get that final piece of paper in our hot little hands.

I grew up in the dance world, where again your faced with exams focused heavily on technique, flexibility and skill. People would kick themselves for getting Honours instead of Honours Plus. But why? Would difference would the 'Plus' really make? 

What is perfect and who makes that decision? Is it what I believed society deems as perfection that I was trying to live up to, or my own unrealistic expectations of myself? To be honest, probably both. I am a self confessed I high achiever and perfectionist. But I can also easily tell you that striving for perfection is exhausting and has broken me on more then one occasion. So I am learning that it ok to not be perfect. I don't need to beat myself up if there are flaws. It is the flaws that will help me learn and help me grow. It is how I manage these imperfections, Learn what needs to be done differently and how I go about this that is more important. 

 

#23. Start accepting things when they are less than perfect.

Remember, ‘perfect’ is the enemy of ‘good.’ One of the biggest challenges for people who want to improve themselves and improve the world is learning to accept things as they are. Sometimes it’s better to accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal. No, you shouldn’t accept a life of mediocrity, but learn to love and value things when they are less than perfect.