If you have any contact with social media, you may have noticed everyone is striving to be perfect. Let’s face it, social media is a nightmare, especially for the perfectionists! Suddenly you can’t post a selfie without at least one filter or go out to dinner without showing your curated plate of food. Even your dog or cat has to look perfect.
What if you just decided to take time off from all the competition and all that clamoring for likes and hearts? What if you chose merely to enjoy your life without sharing it with the world? Here are some tips on how you can reclaim your life and be happier:
Stop Judging
You can decide right now to stop analyzing other people and looking for all that’s wrong with their face, body or life choices. Refocus so you stop seeing a difference as a flaw rather than something that makes the person unique. Just let go of the urge to criticize others and you’ll notice how much better you feel about yourself in the process.
Accept Your Imperfection
Your Inner Critic will have to take a back seat on this one. Wanting to be the best version of yourself isn’t the same as being a perfectionist. A perfectionist is never happy with who they are, how they look or how they’re doing. Being your best simply means you work hard, you try, and you don’t give up. It doesn’t mean you take failure personally or blame yourself when things aren’t perfect.
Relax and Enjoy the Process
Perfectionists tend to trip over every little detail and allow imperfections to spoil their lives. When you embrace imperfection as a natural part of life, it frees you up to enjoy the ride. Obstacles become challenges that make life more enjoyable. You can slow down and notice all that’s good in your life.
Accept Imperfection as a Way of Life
Once you make peace with imperfection, you can be much more objective about life in general. Your perspectives change. What once seemed overwhelmingly important suddenly doesn’t matter so much. All experiences become just another aspect of a life richly lived. Experiences happen for you, not to you, and they are here to help you evolve and grow into the person you are becoming. And that, dear friends, is a lifelong journey.
Imperfection stops being something to avoid at all costs. Think about it like this:
Perfection implies stasis, something you achieve and have to tend. It’s fragile and vulnerable. It puts an end to growth. And then what? You don’t want to stop learning, growing and developing, do you? Embracing imperfection means there’s always an opportunity to learn, grow and become a better, more interesting person who has learned some valuable lessons you can now share with others.
Donna S. Vieira is a certified Gentle Trauma Release Practitioner and Astro-Empowerment Coach who uses her knowledge of Astrology in sessions with her clients. She’s also a published freelance travel and lifestyle writer, blogger, and editor who has traveled the globe. You can read about some of her travels at FromMyTravelBag.com. She and her chef husband, Fernando, own Globetrotters Bed & Breakfast/Gallery in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, where they have been welcoming guests from around the world since 2002.