Give Yourself a Break!

Sometimes your flaws are your most attractive features...

“What we practice, we become.” Victoria Castle, Trance of Scarcity

What is perfection? My dictionary says it’s the state of being without flaw or defect. So, perfection by that definition does not exist anywhere in the known universe, which is a state of raw imperfection, seeking to balance and harmonize itself and never quite making it—kind of like us.

We tend to distrust the perfect, the flawless, the “superior.” Even a perfect God is more to be feared than adored. Throughout history, the adoration or worship of the deity has been out of fear of the deity’s possible wrath. That’s no way to live.

But thank the Powers That Be, you’re not perfect. And a good thing, too. You’d be nothing less than boring without all those little faults and misshapes that you so often dislike about yourself. Those defects, as you may call them, can be taken lightly.

How to recognize the value of your flaws and defects:

·    1. See them as necessary. Without them you can have no spiritual goal. Strength increases through resistance and overcoming. If you want to build muscle, you must tear down the tissue first and then rebuild it. “When doing something important, comfortable is not a place you begin.” (Anon.)

·    2. See them as teachers. Change them by changing the meaning you have given them. You get what you expect. “First, say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.” Epictetus

·    3. See them as mirrors. If you let them, they will reflect back to you your vanity, pride, fear, anger, jealousy, envy, greed, and self-pity. View these habits of mind with courage and they will begin to melt away. “The only sure way to destroy your enemies is to make them your friends.” (Anon.)

Just like the universe, you are perfectly imperfect. There is much to be learned from your flaws, if you will allow yourself to become the student. And you’ll begin to touch the world in a new and powerful way. Embracing your imperfections allows you to take your mind off yourself and place it in a more beneficial arena: service to the world, your true calling.

Celebrate your imperfections. They keep you connected to the rest of us.

“You can resent your bald spot or be glad you have a head.” (Anon.)