Your List of Perfect Isn’t Even Perfect
By Annabelle Sorensen
As women we hold ourselves to high expectations. We have a lot of “should be’s”, “should dos” and “should thinks”. Have you ever written out all the things you think you “should” be doing? I have.
After I saw it on paper, I realized my list contained a profile of someone who is not even human. As a matter of fact, my list did not even contain a profile of someone who is perfect — it simply contained a list of someone who only experiences positive and everything goes their way.
So that got me thinking… if perfection isn’t being positive all the time and doing everything right then what is perfection? I started to ask and reflect on the Savior — how is He perfect?
He had hard things.
He was made fun of.
He was betrayed.
He was forgotten.
He was rejected.
He had plans that got interrupted.
As I was reflecting and continue to reflect on His life, I have ah-ha moments. Perfection isn’t NOT experiencing doubt, disappointment, frustration, fear, anxiety, sadness, pressure, betrayal, rejected, etc… because the Savior is perfect and He experienced all of that.
Rather, perfection is being 100% willing to feel and experience all of THAT. Perfection is being willing to be human in EVERY WAY so then when we are imperfect we do not have to fight against it. We don’t have to try to make it stop or get away from it. We don’t have to correct everything. Because we have a Savior.
We have a Savior who came to experience our human life so that we could also be human. God didn’t send us here to earth and expect us to not be human. God sent us here so we could experience being human and learn to be grateful for a Savior who was FIRST willing to be human so we could make all the mistakes and experience all the humanness in the world and STILL return to live with Him.
Perfection is a 100% willingness to be imperfect and STILL believe you are a child of God.
If He was not willing to experience mortality, to experience rejection, to experience depression, to experience doubt and self criticism and resistance, if He was not willing to experience those things, He would not have been able to be the Savior of the world.
Do you get it?
Your list of perfect isn’t even perfect.
Your list of perfect can be to have more compassion on your doubt.
To have more love for your disappointment.
To have more patience for your shortcomings.
To have more empathy for your hard times.
These imperfections will mold you to become perfect. They will allow you to practice BEING like the Savior, someone who is all understanding, loving, and compassionate.
So, make a list of your should be’s and should do’s and then rip it up and decide that you are experiencing life exactly how you should be and that it is all coming together for your good.
You’ll be surprised how much more “perfect” (more things you will get done, more you will be able to serve, more energy you will have) when you start being willing to be imperfect.
You’ll begin to see how much more “perfect” your life will feel when you stop trying to solve and you start focusing on living.
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