Alright friends… a little real talk (mainly for myself). Brace yourself… did you know… breathe… that you are not perfect? In fact in my opinion, the only thing in this world that is perfect is sharing a delicious glass of Rémy Martin Cognac while at the Rémy Martin cellars in France… but I digress…
I have a perfectionistic personality. It can be terrifying especially to those closest to me. Most people just assume I am super detail oriented, which is true, but the details I notice are unnecessary and can be debilitating. For a long time and even sometimes now, I notice and dwell on the small mistakes I make like misspelling a word in an email, or not fully lining my eye with eyeliner. I also dwell and harbor on the major mistakes, like moments of insecurity when I rage on my better half, or rude, spiteful things I say to someone because they pointed out a flaw. To be clear… THIS IS NEVER OK…
As someone who has not only been in therapy for a long time, but who is also the daughter of counselors, the one thing I have learned is perfectionism is a dangerous obsession. It silos you in a world of unattainable goals and expectations isolating you from the positive impact you could have on the world, if you would just look outside of yourself. For me, perfectionism is also partially my own self-indulgence. (I told you guys it was real talk). I have to be honest with myself… I am sometimes all I think about. When that happens, I lose a beautiful opportunity to listen and hear God’s whisper that is usually saying, “you were so focused on you, you did not hear me ask you to be support for that person that just needed one little light today.”
The danger of perfect is you lose the opportunity to live your life which was meant to be imperfect. We are called to be light to others, not to be solely focused on ourselves. That focus will eat away at everything you have worked for, and everyone you have connected with until you are all alone wallowing in your own self-indulgence. Take it from a chronic perfectionist… STOP! Step out of your own world, and every time you find yourself dwelling on you ask yourself these questions “who is God asking me to reach” and/or “who am I missing because I am so focused on myself”
