What You’ll Hear
For all you perfectionists out there (me included)….this one is for you.
And for all you out there who are bugged by perfectionists, I think you’re going to like this reflection as well.
Whether we’re talking about weight loss, house-keeping, long term marriage, discipline of our children, or even our prayer life,
The key to success is persistence not perfection.
We all know, at some level in our brain, that perfection doesn’t exist.
We may protest that, “We’re not perfectionists” when deep down we know we are.
It’s all or nothing – which usually means we give up and it’s nothing.
If you’re trying to lose weight and there’s a birthday to celebrate, OF COURSE you’re going to have a piece of cake. And then that little voice says, “Well, you had that cake so you might as well give up on losing the weight.” And so you have 2 weeks of eating everything and anything you want – gaining weight – until the next “Monday” when you start another diet.
If you had just had a small piece of cake and moved on without beating yourself up, you would have been back on track the very next food decision you needed to make.
Perfection in Your Home
Maybe you find a streak of perfectionism in keeping your home. You wonder why you should even bother when it’s just going to get messed up again.
When the best solution would be to make cleaning routines and systems part of the family culture and your home would be clean more often than not.
But even more importantly it would be a space to serve you rather than a constant reminder of your failure.
And when it comes to raising children, you won’t be perfect. I look back now over our 35 years of raising children and while I think we did a pretty good job, there are still some decisions I would have made differently now.
Perfection in Your Parenting
We weren’t perfect parents, but we were persistent parents – communicating our clear goals to our children of respect, self-discipline, faith and kindness to each other.
On the other side of the coin are people who barely try because they are “certain” they can’t do it.
If you’re one of those people who give up when it gets difficult – need to up your game.
For your own happiness. Don’t give up before you try!
So in every aspect of your life remember
You’re not perfect
Just do your best
And seek progress through persistence.
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