It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t perfect.
Something went wrong!
It was only 95% good. The other 5% was bad. It was a failure!
What on earth makes us think things like this? It sounds so silly when you step back and read it. But that’s what goes through the minds of perfectionists all the time.
It’s OK to be human.
We’ve all got stains. We’ve all made messes.
Why can’t we celebrate the things that went well?
It’s like looking at a blank white sheet of paper with a black dot on it, and all we can see is the dot.
It leads to anxiety.
It leads to avoidance.
It leads to procrastination or just not trying at all.
Perfection is humanly unattainable.
Stop looking at somebody else’s social media profile and thinking they are perfect. They’re not. They’re just not showing you all the imperfect parts.
Nobody is perfect. No matter how much people can judge and gossip and criticize other people for their missteps, they are not perfect either.
People who like to gossip are hoping that focusing on other people’s flaws will distract everyone from noticing their own.
It doesn’t work that way. Remember the words of Jesus about judging others? People are much more likely to notice the log in your eye if you are constantly talking about the specks in everybody else’s eyes. They are more likely to ignore your flaws if you also give grace to others.
It goes back to the Golden Rule. Treat other people the way you want to be treated.
You aren’t perfect. I’m not perfect. They aren’t perfect. Show other people the grace you want to be shown.
Show yourself grace as well.
This was a pretty good Ted Talk about perfectionism. If you struggle with perfectionism or any anxiety related to it, please watch it.
It’s ok to be human!