A NOTE ON PERFECTION - ALSO THE LONGEST POST EVER

So guys. I'm the biggest perfectionist you will ever meet. I've always had this mindset that if I'm going to do anything I might as well do it perfectly or what's the point of doing it at all? And I mean when it comes to school, art projects, etc. this way of thinking is pretty dang helpful. But when it comes to the rest of life, it definitely is not.

I feel like we live in a world that expects perfection in every aspect of life. You've gotta have the perfect body, perfect hair, perfect house, the perfect boyfriend/husband/significant other, and you must be perfectly happy and well-mannered through it all! We're surrounded by media that convinces us that this perfection exists and that there are people who've obtained this. Even closer to home, with people that surround us everyday that we follow through blogs, Instagram, etc. it seems that everyone is living a perfect life: they are having the funnest adventures with the cutest of friends. They're dressed in perfectly styled outfits and have perfect love life's with perfect people.

And the thing is, it's so easy to buy into the idea that other people have reached this state of perfection. Which makes us feel like we're expected to achieve that too. But you know as well as I that when we post on the internet we censor out the not so great things in our lives. We post the picture of us laughing with our friends on the weekend but never mention us grueling through the workweek. We don't talk about the fights we have, the times when we let someone down. We don't talk about the heartbreak or the insecurities. We bury away the times when we lost our cool or made a mistake. We don't post pictures of the way we look when we've just woken up and we edit out the blemishes in Photoshop so no one would ever think we've had a zit. Cause ya know, these things aren't pretty or attractive or even close to perfect.

But these things are real. Life isn't meant to be perfect (it's hard for me to accept guys, honestly). We were never meant to achieve perfection, because if we were, then it would be possible. We aren't meant to always look amazing, we aren't meant to have perfect friendships. We aren't meant to be perfectly nice every second of the day, couples aren't supposed to be perfectly in love all the time, nobody always looks perfectly cute either... And no one, no matter how much they make it appear so, has a perfect life. 

I'm guilty of it people. I try to convince others that I have this amazingly perfect life, when in reality it is far from it. It is a happy and wonderful life, but no, it is not perfect. And feeling like we have to achieve perfection will only leave us feeling discouraged and frustrated. Trust me, it is a feeling I've felt so many times when things don't go the way I think they should.

So, ya know what? I've decided that I'm going to let go of this feeling of needing things to be perfect. And to start off, I'm going to let you know three things about me that are not in the least bit perfect. Because they make me real, and that's better, right?

1. I get mad over the stupidest things. Lame huh? Yeah, it is. But hey, I'm working on it guys!
2. My car is super dirty. Like crumbs everywhere. Also there's a crack in the windshield, a dent in the back bumper, and the right mirror is broken...it's not a pretty sight people.
3. I'm a bit of a control freak. I have a hard time when things don't go my way and have an even harder time letting things go when they don't go as planned. It's been my goal this year to be a bit more spontaneous in life, but honestly it's a struggle haha.

And what do ya know, even with these imperfect things, I'm still awesome! Imagine that! So here's to letting go of this expectation of perfection and beginning to appreciate the "realness" of life.