Nobody's Perfect

As part of my 101 in 1001 list I made a list of personal commandments.  As part of my working on remembering my list I thought I would continue to share my commandments and why they are on my list.  Be Heather, my first commandment is a great commandment that can be easily adapted for anyone.  My second, Dance With God. Let Him Lead. is one that I continually have to remind myself of.

My third commandment is to Let Go of Perfect.  I am a major perfectionist.  It's quite possible that I have a little CDO (O.C.D. but alphabetized) that contributes to my need for perfection.  Another large part might be that I seem to have a need to please other people, to be what they think I should be, to be perfect.

But really, we all know that there is no such thing, right?  Well we can tell ourselves that, but it doesn't mean we believe it.  I always thought that to get from point A to B it had to look like this:

But someone once pointed out that if it were to look like this:

Then that would be okay too.  There is no right way.  There's a your way.  And a my way.  But just because they are different, doesn't mean they aren't both right.


Perfection:
That's a mighty tall order.  And I think it's our imperfections that make us who we are.  If I work and work to have the perfect hairstyle, wear the perfect clothes, look perfect.  If I try to be the perfect teacher, friend, sister, daughter, mentor.  If I try to have the perfect faith.  The perfect dream.  The perfect work ethic.  If I do all those things, and don't achieve them, then what does that make me?  But if I realize that perfection is something I shouldn't try to attain.  Rather I should try to attain the best that I can be.  Not the best in general.  But the best Heather that I can be... isn't that what it's all about?

That isn't to say that I shouldn't be the healthiest version of me I can be.  Or the smartest, or best teacher that I can be.  But that's the point.  Its not the best, period.  It's the best, I CAN BE.

So my third personal commandment is to Let Go of Perfect.  To understand that there is more than one way to do something.  That God made me just the way I am and that to Him I am perfectly me without changing anything.  So as I strive to let go of perfection for myself, I have to also let go of my desire for others to be perfect... but that's a whole other story.