Overcoming Perfectionism

Photo by Brett Jordan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wood-typography-broken-photography-9195416/

When I was younger, and my kids were younger, I believed I had to be a perfect mother, the perfect wife, and the perfect employee. What I became was perfectly exhausted attempting to meet what my vision of perfection was, and I began to seriously damage my own mental health with each perceived failing I had. Had I failed? No, but if it wasn't perfect, I felt that I had. I read a quote in one of my classes that I wanted to share with each of you today. Oh, how I wish I had heard this back then.

"When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those "getting to know you" questions you ask of young people: Do you play sports? What's your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don't play any sports. I do theater, I'm in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

And he went WOW. That's amazing! And I said, "Oh no, but I'm not any good at ANY of them"

And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: "I don't think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you've got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them."

And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn't been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could "Win" at them."

-Kurt Vonnegut

Today I challenge you to take 5 minutes, just 5 minutes out of your day to sit comfortably, relax your body and focus on your breathing.

Place one hand over your heart and one hand over your lower belly. Feel your belly and chest rise and fall as you inhale and exhale.

Close your eyes or take a soft gaze out in front of you and as you breathe in say to yourself "I am" and as you breathe out say "enough". Breathe In "I am" Breathe out "enough".

Because you are enough. You are wonderfully you and I, for one, am so incredibly grateful for you.

Thank you for allowing me to share my experience with perfectionism and to guide you through this affirmation this morning.

-A