Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.
Henry David Thoreau
I think we are ready to take this to the next level.
I like boot camps and 30-day challenges, and talking to a cousin a few weeks ago, she made me realize how much “tough love” I have inside of me.
A long time ago I was diagnosed with incurable perfectionism.
OK, I made that up, but I was always working hard, and harder, to achieve perfect results at absolutely everything I did. I always had to do more, give more, be better, do better.
They say the perfectionist personality is usually the result of demanding familiar surroundings. Our relationships with parents, siblings, teachers, friends, society, are always placing conditions on us as a requisite for acceptance. Having to prove your worth to everyone.
Perfectionism can stick with you for a long time, or forever, when you are not aware of how it can control your life.
A couple of years ago I set about embracing an imperfect lifestyle.
Pivotal experiences in our lives change our perspective about what is important and what is not. After going through one of those experiences, I realized that one of the things that I needed to get rid of immediately was all the excess weight and burdens that perfectionism has brought upon me all over the years.
Little by little I started opening my eyes, and mind, to really understanding how fascinating living imperfectly can be. Unrealistic expectations evaporate.
Because we were born to be imperfectly perfect.
Releasing control is the first, and most important step towards perfectionism freedom. Only until we are able to accept things as they are, and focus all our energy into the things that we do have control over, a.k.a. ourselves, we are able to create much richer connections with everything that surrounds us.
After emancipating from my self-diagnosed perfectionism, I got to keep the “tough love” part of myself to tap into it when I need it the most. It’s been the one and the only ingredient that has helped me to get through this thing called life, allowing me to flow between the good, the bad, and the unexpected, unconditionally.
