Crystal Weber 10-02-11
Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. ~Confucius, Analects
Nobody’s perfect. This is something I’ve heard as long as I remember but it is still hard to think about. I was one of those born with a trait called perfectionism. Mistakes are inevitable for humans but that doesn’t mean they are easy to swallow. I can’t stand it when I mess up. But I would rather be constantly working towards something than be lazy, so it’s not all bad. As with everything in life, it’s all about balance and so I’m working on finding that exact balance best for my life and you can too. Robert Hillyer once said, “Perfectionism is a dangerous state of mind in an imperfect world.” After all, pencils have erasers and computers have the backspace key – mistakes can be fixed so don’t dwell on them.
So, when you mess up in your own life, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just take what you can learn from it and move on with your life. Mistakes are the quickest way to learn lessons and experience personal growth. If we are constantly chasing after perfectionism we will miss out on our lives. Look around – do you know anyone who lived their life perfect, without mistakes? Sure, Jesus! But no one except the Son of God can claim to live their life in perfection so just relax and know that it’s ok that you mess up. Other people will forgive you and so you need to forgive yourself too. According to John Henry Newman, “A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.” Don’t waste your life waiting for something that deep down you know cannot come to pass. Go out and live in boldness today in the knowledge that you will mess up sometimes but that in no way diminishes your character or accomplishments.
I feel like sometimes we don’t go for something because they are afraid we won’t succeed. I’ve discovered life’s just too short not go try. “Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is. You'll be afraid you can't achieve it. ... It's your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best,” Sir Laurence Olivier. My personal mantra is to work hard and do my very best and go for it because I’d rather try for something and fail than never try and always wonder. And who knows, maybe I will even succeed? Many of the world’s greatest figures we would never heard of if they had quit the first time they failed.
“Use what talents you have; the woods would have little music if no birds
sang their song except those who sang best,” Reverend Oliver G. Wilson.
Perfection is a short road to disappointment and life is a long, winding road so just be yourself and do your best and live your life out loud J
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