Nowadays society pushes us to be perfect and striving for social approval. At Corc Yoga we find this topic very intriguing and complex and we want to share our thoughts on ‘why perfection isn’t so perfect’.
We might start with the feeling that “we want this newsletter to be perfect” and we push ourselves to do so in a constant rhythm and insight, with the feeling that “I think I can do better” and this is a part of the problem. We can’t let go.
On one hand, we might think that it’s OK to want things to be perfect, right? We want that big price, the five stars approval. It’s good to have high goals and try to achieve them but when do we cross that thin line and start to aim for so-called perfectionism? We think that we can resume this in one simple word: balance!
What might be too much for me, might not be for you so one must find its own inner balance in order to feel good and end up living our best life. The perfectionism guru Brené Brown once said that perfectionism is a tool to avoid shame or the judgment of others. Is not the same thing as personal growth or striving to be your best. In fact, perfectionism often comes from a place of fear in a self-destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought.
But if we dig deeper into this subject, we must ask ourselves why do we always have the tendency to focus on our own flaws? It’s easy to point out our mistakes rather than our achievements so it’s time to change this mental ship. One of the mistakes to avoid is the mainstream social media content that pushes us into this direction: the perfect body, the perfect relationship, the perfect food, the perfect travel holidays and so on… We live our lives with a constant culture of comparison and this is a basic rule to start living fulfilling moments on a daily basis, otherwise you will always have the feeling
that your life isn’t good enough, leading to mental confusion, frustration and low self-esteem.
As we grow up, our parents have an important role in this mental development, and sometimes, even unconsciously, push us to be perfect: the best at school, the best in sports or the most pretty. This is how it starts and sometimes the parents fuel this ignition and completion levels among themselves. On the other hand, in the current society nowadays it is also expected from parents to be perfect
and that doesn’t help. This creates a huge gap in the family balance and we can feel exhausted and overwhelmed just to think about it.
We must keep our feet on the ground so we don’t lose ourselves in an unrealistic world that we might never achieve so don’t be too hard on yourself and embrace all the aspects of your being, flaws and all because we don’t have to be perfect. Maybe perfection doesn’t even exist? We can start that change today. Maybe reading this might cause a spark for the future?
