This is the story of me running my first long-distance race. There I was, wearing my shiny new running shoes and a not-so-shiny old habit of perfectionism. I used to love running – it's my meditation in motion. At least until my inner perfectionist showed up wearing a referee whistle and carrying a stopwatch. 🏃♀️
As other runners passed me, my brain kicked into what I call "Perfect Mode" (think Instagram filters but for your entire life). Suddenly, my comfortable pace wasn't good enough. That nasty little voice in my head started its familiar chant: "Run faster! Be better! Make this race PERFECT!" (Spoiler alert: Perfect doesn't exist, but try telling that to my overachieving brain.)
Here's the thing about perfectionism – it's like having a really demanding personal trainer living in your head rent-free. One who's never satisfied doesn't believe in water breaks and probably needs therapy. And the worst part? Our culture celebrates this! We live in a world so filtered and photoshopped that even reality needs a reality check.
Let me drop some truth tea here: Perfection is about as real as unicorns riding rainbows to brunch. We're imperfect beings living in an imperfect world, yet somehow, we've convinced ourselves that anything less than perfect isn't worth celebrating. (Spoiler alert #2: It totally is!)
This perfectionist mindset? It's exhausting. It's like trying to achieve an A+ in life when the test is written in invisible ink. It's led me down some dark paths – anxiety, depression, fear of failure, and the inability to enjoy a meal without calculating its nutritional perfection. (Yes, I was that person who stressed the symmetry of their salad. 🥗)
But running that race taught me that progress beats perfection every time. While I was busy trying to run the "perfect" race, I almost missed the joy of running itself. The wind in my hair, the rhythm of my feet, the achievement of simply showing up – these were the real victories I nearly overlooked.
Recovery from perfectionism isn't a straight path (ironically, it's perfectly imperfect). It involved therapy, developing wellness tools, and learning to embrace the beautiful mess that is being human. Now, I purposely let some things be "good enough" because perfect is overrated and usually involves way too much stress.
So, here's my invitation to fellow perfectionists (and recovering perfectionists):
- Let's replace "practice makes perfect" with "practice makes progress."
- Embrace the wobbles, fumbles, and spectacular fails
- Celebrate the attempts, not just the achievements
- Remember that even a "perfect" cup of tea has varying flavors
Life isn't about running the perfect race – it's about enjoying the journey, messy bits and all. And sometimes, the best victories are the ones where you simply showed up, did your best, and didn't let your inner perfectionist hold the stopwatch.
(P.S. - If you're reading this and recognizing yourself, know you're not alone. And yes, it's perfectly okay to be imperfect. In fact, it's the only way to be perfectly human.)