You ate off plan and then your perfect self reminded you, over and over again of your failure. Told you how shit you were and drove you even further off course?
Say goodbye to your perfect self.
I did, and it finally allowed my real self to grow.
Perfect Jordan. He was flawless. He never made mistakes. To describe perfect as a verb you would say: “make (something) completely free from faults or defects; make as good as possible”.
Why would I want to say goodbye to my vision of a perfect self? My defect-less self?My faultless self?
Because he only ever lived between my two ears. Maybe that’s why his voice seemed so loud; even if he whispered, he could be heard loud and clear.
Perfect Jordan won’t be missed. He was my archrival. He told me how I failed. How I said the wrong thing. He would often replay events over and over again, pointing out all the things that went wrong.
We’re often told that we shouldn’t try and compete with others; that we’re all different, unique and special for that. Don’t try and keep up with the Joneses.
That all seems reasonable.
But what happens when the Joneses live in our head?
What happens if we’re constantly comparing ourselves to the idea of our perfect self? Who we think we should be?
You fail.
You fail time and time again.
Say goodbye to this idea of your perfect self.
The idea of perfection isn’t real.
You’re not perfect. Neither am I. And that’s ok. I don’t want to be.
How could I be this person that I am now if I lived so ‘perfectly’?
My cracks, my scars, my faults, my stuff ups, my errors, my mistakes; they carved out who I am.
Why should I long for a perfect version of Jordan and miss the opportunity to appreciate the person that I am? Imperfections and all.
Be ok with your imperfection, because it allows you to assess yourself in reality.
To compare yourself to perfection doesn’t improve you. It just holds you to a standard. It doesn’t teach you anything.
Own it.
