Our desire for perfection and our need for inner peace will always be in conflict, if we refuse to acknowledge our imperfections.
However, focusing on our imperfections will take us further away from attaining inner peace. Despite our best intentions, we cannot do or give of our best when we’re attached to, and focused on, the wrong things.
When we fall into the habit of wanting to change things just so they are perfect, we must tell ourselves things are fine as they are. We need to remind ourselves of the good in our lives, and that it’s okay not to be perfect, or to have perfection.
As we begin to eliminate the need to be perfect, we will finally make peace with ourselves. When we can make peace with ourselves and with our imperfections, we will have inner peace.
What imperfections?! 🙂
What imperfections indeed! We all have them.
There's no getting away from them, but some of us have more than others!
Imperfections about my character I can accept.
I had no choice in having CP, that's what I find hard to accept. I didn't do this to myself.
I completely understand. I remember being very angry myself as a child because I hated the fact that I wasn't perfect. As much as it's hard to come to any form of acceptance on what we deal with, I believe not accepting ourselves makes us feel worse about us and what we have to deal with.
Sometimes we just have to find a place so that we can accept our imperfections. You didn't ask for it, you're right... but you have it. It is the same for me.
From my own experience as a child, not accepting how I was made me more miserable and even more angry and a nightmare to be around.
I always got the message as a child that even if I was perfect all the time, it wouldn't matter since my parents wouldn't have noticed or even cared.
It gave me the negative perception that it wasn't even worth trying to accomplish anything in life as far as people wouldn't even notice.
I'm only just now starting to be able to move beyond listening to those old tapes that play so frequently in my head. I'm just praying that one day I won't have so much noise in my head!
This was not about you or how imperfect you were, you were just a child. This is about how your parents dealt with you as a child.
I believe that if our parents encourage and reinforce all that is positive, we will be encouraged to see ourselves in a more positive light, even if we're not perfect. I don't believe any of us are and will be totally perfect, but we need to be of accepting of ourselves and our imperfections instead of trying to make things more perfect in our lives.
I believe that once you have worked this all out, you will be able to play a different more positive tape in your head!
What a wonderful way to look at life, focusing on the positive. 🙂
Welcome to the site Teena. Thank you.
I tried to be perfect for many years and accepted (a few years ago) that it just wasn't worth it. Nobody appreciated it anyway except myself. I don't try for perfection anymore.
I'm happy with myself and my husband isn't too disappointed with me.
Ditto Lisa. I have to agree with you. Not accepting our imperfections just adds more to our stress.
We may never reach a plateau where we're completely happy with ourselves or our choices, because of some of the stress we have. I don't believe any of us don't live with stress.
I believe though, we need to find inner happiness regardless of whether we're perfect or not. In my opinion the more imperfections we have the better. If we're more accepting of our imperfections, we'll be more accepting of ourselves.
Very, very true once again Ilana.
Thanks. 🙂