Heya beautiful soul!
It might come as a total shock to you (including my hubby), but I’m not perfect *cue dramatic revealing music*. Oh yes – some would believe that I have it all together, or that I have a solution for every single little problem, but no lady love – I sit here on the couch with my pyjamas which by the way have milk stains all over my top (feeding my 7-week old daughter) and disheveled hair that seriously needs some taming. I’m pretty sure that if I looked at myself in the mirror right now I wouldn’t even recognise myself. But it’s not even about appearances – honestly, I think at times a psychologist would have a field day with me. I can imagine it now. I’d be sitting in their office talking about my insecurities, and the psychologist would gesture for me to cease talking for a moment, lift the handset of their phone to talk directly to their receptionist, and say the words, ‘Cancel all my appointments today – this one’s going to be a tough one’.
Jokes aside, the reason for me writing this article is simple. I’ve realised that we have a very misconstrued definition of the word ‘perfect’…..in my own words, it’s completely f*ked up. And you know it must be serious if I swear!
To refresh all our memory’s, here’s the current definition from good old Cambridge Dictionaries Online:
‘PERFECT’ is defined as: ‘complete and correct in every way, of the best possible type or without fault: Complete and correct in every way, of the best possible type or without fault’.
This word is the most fictitious word in the world would you agree?
So if it’s such a farfetched word, why do so many people strive for it? Okay, I understand it’s a good motivator to strive to do certain things with our lives but surely it acts as a catalyst for disappointment. Who really reaches that peak of perfection? What is ‘perfection’ anyway? For instance, in my eyes what I believe is a perfect-looking chocolate brownie might be totally different for you. I might like rainbow sprinkles on mine and you might like coconut. At the end of the day, our chocolate brownies are perfect for us but not for others (I’m sorry about the brownie reference – I made these amazing chocolate coconut brownies 2 weeks ago and I still keep thinking about them – comment below if you want the recipe).
FACT ALA ERIN: Perfection is nonsense. Perfection is unachievable. Striving for perfection is striving for failure….why? because there’s no such thing as ‘perfect’. The word ‘perfect’ is imperfect.
So chickpea – if you’re focused on your life right now and dislike how imperfect it is, that’s okay. Take your desire to wanting more as a good motivator. You can still aim for the stars, actually, I encourage you to live BIG and go beyond your own limitations, but keep in mind that if your view about who you are and what you do with your life is tainted by the need to be ‘perfect’, then I’m sorry, but you’re barking up the wrong tree (translation: mistaken or misguided). I don’t mean to offend you about this – heck, the only reason why I’m so passionately writing about this is that I’ve only just realised that I will never reach perfection, and man oh man, it was a hard pill to swallow.
Whatever you do with your life. Whoever you are. Whatever you choose –as long as it brings you bursting joy, then THAT’S PERFECT for you.
It’s a pointless exercise trying to seek approval from others whose view of what is perfect is different from your own. Society plays a huge role in what is perfect and what is not – apparently me sitting in milk-stained pyjamas and disheveled hair isn’t perfect….well, to some. But to be completely honest with you, I look at my appearance and I’m proud of it. This is the appearance of a Mumma doing her best to look after her daughter. That’s just me….and that’s perfect….to me.
So here’s the new definition of perfect / perfection:
‘What YOU believe as being complete at the time, without external influences’.
Notice how I threw in the ‘at the time’ of our new definition? This means that perfection is always evolving. We can NEVER really achieve it….period (but we can get pretty close to our own view of perfection right?)
So let’s get off our own case and stop criticising our own abilities/appearance/personality/values….who you are right this very second is PERFECT…..period. Agree?
Leave your comments below! Share your thoughts on what perfection is for you. How have you been able to move away from the stigma behind who you think you should be? What advice can you give us to help us all overcome such a massive issue? Com’on gorgeous soul! Speak now or forever hold your peace.
With perfect love,
