Imperfect

Lately, I have been inspired by the notion of imperfection. If we face it, nobody is perfect. Nobody gets everything right all of the time. While I will not accept mediocracy as my norm, I am totally ok with being imperfect. To clarify, I consider mediocracy to be tied to less than optimal effort, as opposed to imperfect where I do/did my best and made some mistakes along the way. By striving for 'imperfection' I still give my all, but can be resolved by the imperfect outcomes.

When I began my blog, my intention was to share the honest, not so pretty side of being a working mom, who admittedly overextends herself. It is usually not pretty and hardly ever perfect. Then I happened to stumble across an organization on facebook that supports the 'imperfect' movement. They can be found at http://www.shutupabout.com/. Their full moniker is "Shut up about your perfect kid," as they were inspired by their less than perfect children. These women are 2 sisters who have children with psychological and Autism-spectrum disorders, and speak freely about how imperfect their lives are. However, being the motley crew they are, the website is directed to anybody who admits to being less than perfect.

I relate to them so much. I have a perfectly bright, eager to learn all he can child...but that comes with consequences. He becomes anxious, stressed and frustrated with even simple tasks. I study my life away to be a barely-B student (still holding onto that 3+ gpa though.) I have learned great lessons through this 'movement.' Embrace what you CAN do. Small accomplishments are still accomplishments. And for me personally, I need to work on accepting small victories as victories, regardless of how small.

Whether I relate this to my child, my parenting, being a student....even my marriage, I can find great comfort in the fact that it doesn't have to be perfect. As long as I worked to the best of my abilities and emotional allowance, I have done my job. This notion is also about honesty. I could brag all day about how bright my child is, how well I know my meds, and how I am successfully navigating a difficult nursing program. But I am honest, and will share the gory details.

This is not about having a bitch-fest. It is about sharing what most of us experience in our daily lives. It is about being real. My wish is that more people would join this movement and admit their imperfect lives. It is freeing. It is liberating. After all, 'the truth will set you free.'