Perfectly Imperfect

Being Perfectly Imperfect

(featured on IntentBlog.com, see http://intentblog.com/perfectly-imperfect/)

It is very difficult not being perfect.

I get impatient when I am stuck behind a slow-moving crowd on the streets of New York City. I fight with my sisters. I judge smokers. I re-live painful memories of my past.

I eat after 7:00pm…usually a pint of ice cream…and sometimes a side of pickles.

I have trouble balancing on one foot. I hit snooze six times before I get out of bed, take too long in the shower, and then I am late for work.

I scratch my nose while meditating.

It is so hard to be perfect. Yet somehow we think that we can be.

We get upset at ourselves for not being able to have a perfect warrior two pose in our yoga practice. We think we deserve sadness because we cheated on a prior lover. We regret and regret and regret the slice of pizza we ate the night before.

What about recognizing our imperfections and loving them? What about breathing deep, acknowledging our bad memories and then letting them go in one strong exhalation? What about having a short meditation on our errors, reflecting on how good we will feel next time we choose better decisions?

I am a human being.

I do yoga everyday, I smile at strangers, I stand on my head, and I often fall down.

I have anxieties.

Sometimes, I get mad at myself for having feelings.

It is then that I remind myself that my feelings and anxieties are not the issue. These are not my imperfections. These will not go away.

This is what makes me human and this is my mind and body telling me something.

What I have the power over is choosing how to react to those anxieties and feelings. I determine the activities to partake in to create the space that will help me learn and progress from the state of my insecurity.

It is difficult not being perfect.

I am still hurt by past lovers, I ache at family hardships, and my backbend is poor.

“I need to let go. I should not feel this way. I am supposed to be able to do this.”

Says who?

Be who you want to be. Create the space that will help you get there.

I intend to be perfectly imperfect:

I will acknowledge my weaknesses and I will be empowered to transform them.

I will accept the things I cannot change.

And, I will let go, where needed.

Namaste.