Our ideas of perfection are almost always external. We were taught about perfection, or we internalized ideas about it when we were growing up. Social media and regular media are a constant barrage of “perfection”.
By the time we are adults, our imperfections, on the other hand, are mostly internalized comparisons. We call them out to ourselves all the time – I’m fat. I’m lazy. I’m dumb. I’m not as good as…We judge ourselves again the external. I do it so much, I don’t even realize how often it happens.
What if our imperfections were actually something else entirely?
What if the internal judgements that we obsess over are actually helpful messages that we misread in our quest to be perfect?
I’m lazy. (Could also be – I need to rest.)
I can’t get everything done and I’m failing. (Could also be – maybe I don’t have to do everything and ‘doing everything’ is too much for anyone. I need help. I need to let go.)
I’m always tired. (Maybe your body need better nutrition? Exercise? Are you spending your energy on things that drain, rather than feed, you?)
Maybe our imperfections are important messages we are misinterpreting.
Can we stop beating ourselves up long enough to actually listen to what our ‘imperfections’ are telling us?