Last night I was reading this post from Ashley over at A Recipe for Sanity. Ashley is such a kind, thoughtful, deep-well of a person and I always love reading what’s going on in her life. When she talked about feeling overwhelmed and praying honest prayers, I was reminded of the peace that comes from having an honest conversation with God.
I tend to be a perfectionist and so when it comes to the many things that take up my time, I get into this mindset: If I can’t do it perfectly, I can’t do anything, at all. I become paralyzed with my need to BE PERFECT. The problem is, and I know you’re shocked, I will never be perfect.
Last Sunday, one of the youth directors at our church spoke about living in God’s grace. It gives us room to live, “freedom to fail,” she said.
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I get pretty caught up with my desire to do things perfectly. And I am pretty unkind to myself when I don’t measure up. I have to ask myself, does this really matter? Does it matter if I get perfect grades or have a spotless home or impress every person I meet? Do I always have to know the answer? Does everyone have to like me? Can I make a mistake? Can I make a bad decision and just choose to learn from it? Will the world really end if I don’t “get it right?”
So this month, with grad school starting again and classes and work and all the pressures that come with that, I am choosing to remember I have been given the freedom to fail, to not measure up, to fall down and get up again.
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What about you? Is it difficult for you to give yourself permission to be less than perfect? Do you have a story about feeling freedom to fail?
love, elizabeth
6 comments:
You are too kind, Elizabeth. :) This was a wonderful post for *me* to read. I am always afraid to fail, always wanting to be 100% at everything I do, even when I am just learning to do it! I appreciate the reminder that God's grace has given us the space to fall on our faces at times and come back up again.
Love <3
Thought I didn't struggle with this...haha...unfortunately I am only beginning to realize its the root of many issues/frustrations in my life... but perfectionism hides itself sooo well
This really resonates with me, Elizabeth. I've always had that same mindset: if I won't be perfect at it, I won't do it at all. It's such a self-defeating attitude. I needed to be reminded of this! Thank you. :)
I'm so glad I read this post, I can relate totally. It's hard to not be perfect and I'm a lot harder on myself because of it. But this is perfect because I'm in a time in my life where I have to take those risks :)
i always say that if you don't fail you won't truly appreciate what success feels like.
Elizabeth, you come by it honestly.
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