Perfection Doesn't Exist

I've been thinking lately about how we are so often wired to seek perfection, to accept nothing less for ourselves and to be uncompromising in our expectations. 

I know that when I fall short of perfection or when I (gasp!) backslide, I all too often beat myself up. I know I'm not the only one who's guilty of doing that. I've heard it a lot this month from friends and challengers who are coming off of summers well-spent but who looking back are now feeling they were a bit too indulgent in their eating and a little lax on the workouts. 

It's hard to see ourselves lose the progress or gains that we've made. What I hate the most is when those backslides sort of sneak up on me. It's not that I couldn't have seen them coming since they're usually on the heels of a few too many weekends of pizza and ice cream and mindless eating, but more that I chose not to notice until it seemed too late. I know it's never too late but the feeling of disappointment and self-sabotage is enough to make me feel stuck sometimes. It seems so hard to recover and then to think of all that work I let go to waste.

This quest for perfection isn't exclusive to those of us who've gotten into "good" habit and let them slip. What also used to be true for me was that if I couldn't envision the circumstances falling into place and conditions being optimal, I waited until I perceived them to be. The problem was, in waiting for perfect, I just prolonged the process, and allow myself to settle for less than I wanted or deserved and just like when trying to recover from a backslide, I remained stuck.

This uncompromising and self-defeating quest for perfection is and was so totally my way of thinking when I first started this journey to lose the weight. 

Along the way though, I've learned to accept that conditions are rarely optimal. As a mom of 3, life often gets in the way. As someone who works 2 jobs, things are always busy. As a normal person, conditions are just never going to be perfect and at times they're going to be downright crummy and that's ok. It's life and that comes with ups and downs.

All I can do is try my hardest to do what I can with the conditions I'm given. 

Yes, I could throw my hands up and say I'm too busy between work and the kids. 

I could say that we can't afford it or that I can wait until the kids are older when I have more time. 

I could bemoan the fact that no one at home will support me, will want to eat healthier foods or make it easy for me to make this change. 

OR 

I can choose to do what I can to live a healthier life. 

I used to default to the excuses, waiting for the day when things just fell into place and it got easier. I used to allow myself to focus more on the feeling of disappointment instead of picking myself up, dusting myself off and just starting. The thing is, it's never going to be easy or seamless. Part of the triumph is in overcoming things when it's not easy.

Instead of only allowing for perfection, I now realize and am reminded day in and day out that perfection just doesn't exist, certainly not when you juggle life with busy kids and a job! Instead, I'm working towards living a healthy, well-balanced life as much as I can and to model that lifestyle for my family. It's a lifelong process that I work on every day.

If you want some help ditching the self-sabotage and want some support getting back on track without the guilt let me know. I have 2 great accountability groups running this month. One for busy moms and another fall fitness group that's open to anyone who just wants to work on getting into a good rhythm for fall. Fill out the application if you want more info or just to talk!

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