Perfection... hmmmm....

Perfection... hmmmm....
(written 8/28/02 - age 18)

         There are many people out there who strive for perfection and have a hard time accepting themselves if perfect is not a word that can describe them. I want to get one thing straight right from the beginning: There is no such thing as perfection! I know, many people may tune me out right now, but its true. A wise woman once told me, "Perfection is a JOURNEY, not a destination!" Those words have stuck with me.

We set up harsh and unkind rules against ourselves. No one is born without faults. ~Horace

         Take a minute to think about that. It wonderfully puts into words a great truth in this world.

         I'm not saying to not try your best at things, though. As Harriet Braiker said, "Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing."

         Going with that, I have a few quotes to share to tie into the next part of this article. Don Miguel Ruiz writes "We have the need to be accepted and to be loved by others, but we cannot accept and love ourselves. The more self-love we have, the less we will experience self-abuse. Self-abuse comes from self-rejection, and self-rejection comes from having an image of what it means to be perfect and never measuring up to that ideal. Our image of perfection is the reason we reject ourselves the way we are, and why we don't accept others the way they are." and even furthering that, Ann Wilson Schaef states that "Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order." That statement really touched me!!! Try to remember that whenever you find yourself trying to do everything "perfectly."

         From those, I also take the concept who we each are needs to be accepted by us. As someone I once knew said somewhere "You are what you're expected to be..." Know that you will make mistakes, but that is not a sign of failure; its an opportunity for improvement, growth, knowledge, and change.

So, remember to cherish YOU! And that how you are is "perfect."