It can be easy this first month of January to aim for perfection. It’s a fresh year with no mistakes in it yet and that can feel so inspiring. It pushes us towards setting these big resolutions that we feel like we have to keep perfectly. Then as soon as we miss a workout or have a cigarette or don’t read our 10 pages, we quit. We feel like somehow our goals has been “ruined” and we throw in the towel. This is very easy to do if you’re stuck inside a perfectionistic mindset. As a recovering perfectionist I totally understand this. I even dealt with my own version of this last month with Blogmas. I had a rough week and missed a few posts and then felt like because the perfect streak was broken, for some reason I wasn’t allowed to jump back in. Not this year. This year I am stumbling towards my goals and my dreams with bare feet and no clear map just a general direction. I can often fall prey to thinking I need a perfect plan and to do list to get something done but then often times nothing gets done at all.
Here is a quiet reminder this morning that being perfect is not the goal, faithfulness is. And if you show up everyday no matter how imperfectly you will make progress towards the person you are trying to become, even if it’s a little slower. Showing up everyday with the heart to improve is better then only showing up when you can do things “perfectly”. Our lives do not allow for things to be perfect and that is why if you can find little ways to show up for yourself those will add up quickly. You may not be able to show up for your full workout but taking a 10 minute walk is better then not doing anything at all. You might not get to the three chapters you hoped to read but one page is better then nothing. Writing one sentences instead of your page is better then nothing written at all. We can often fall into a go-big-or-go-home mindset and feel like it’s all or nothing. That’s the trap.
This year I am embracing the saying that done is better then perfect. The crappy novel you actually finish writing is better then your “perfect” novel that never even gets outlined. Loading the dishwasher, even when you can’t deep clean the kitchen like you wanted, is better then not cleaning anything.
That’s why I have decided to make my word for this year “Messy”. I know that sounds kind of ridiculous and not super inspiring but it is to me. I based it off the poem by Shanti
“And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.”
Living a full life never looks “neat”. Living a big wonderful life can’t be kept perfectly planned or tidy or without surprises. Being out there and doing things means my hair might get a little messy and my feet might get a little dirty but that is what happens to make your eyes sparkle with being alive. I have begun to think that you can’t have both. You either get a completely pulled together life or you go out there and actually live. What’s the big deal about everything being perfect anyway? So I have decided that that is how I am going to walk this year. It’s not easy and it’s not my default but I think it’s what I need to truly move forward.
So here is to letting you know that showing up everyday for yourself, no matter how messy, is a lot better then trying to keep a perfect streak going. Know where you want to go. figure out systems to get there and give yourself grace as you stumble towards it.
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