Losing at the Game of Perfection

I meant to start this blog entry 2 weeks ago, then last week, then a couple of days ago and it was still on my to do list today.   I was waiting to find a time where things would be perfect.  I would have the best idea, be well rested so my writing would be sharp and have my words flow onto the page as if Maya Angelou herself were dictating them to me.

The end result of my trying to be perfect: I never even typed my first word.

Where did this idea originate that things have to be flawless to be worthy?  When did we start thinking that success meant a straight path from point A to point B?  When did a small pebble in the path translate into an inescapable avalanche of rocks and boulders?

As a weight loss coach, I see so many people label themselves defeated from one day or week of eating “bad foods”. To me, foods shouldn’t be labeled as good or bad anyway. There are better choices and less good choices but no food should be completely off limits.   Too bad many people consider their diet a failure after one less than ideal day.

Here’s a novel thought.  What if the first step of any diet would be to write ourselves a forgiveness letter?  This letter would give ourselves permission to stumble, eat a fattening food, and have a bad food day.  We would promise to pick ourselves up, love ourselves, and keep going in the morning. 

At the end of the day, a mistake, failure, hiccup or whatever else you want to call it is a valuable gift we give ourselves.  Anyone who has achieved greatness has fallen many times first.  Failure allows you to learn from your mistakes.  Think of it like airplane turbulence.  Just because your ride is bumpy doesn’t mean you don’t get to your destination.

For better or worse, I finally wrote this blog entry. Surely there is a typo somewhere.  Maybe a fragmented sentence. It might not be perfect, but who said it had to be?  I kept going, and that is the true sign of victory.