Just Perfect

This post came to me while I was picking up my house and doing laundry this afternoon...I find that a lot of my thinking and understandings come when I am doing simple, mindless tasks, that's probably why a lot of them are related to cleaning.

I am sure we have all had a friend who we view as perfect.  We see them and want to be like them.  They invite us to their house and their house appears spotless, they show up for lunch and their hair, make up, clothing seems perfect.  Sometimes we struggle to be like them, we wonder how they can be like that and why we seem to struggle a long barely getting anything done.  We love, respect and admire our perfect friend.

Then one day we stop by unannounced at our friend's house, she answers the door looking uncomfortable.  Her hair is a mess, she's wearing no mask of makeup, she's got sweats on.  She reluctantly invites you in and her house looks like a whirlwind went through, dishes in the sink, laundry waiting to be folded on the couch, a dusty bunny floats by as you sit down on the chair.

Your friend is uncomfortable and embarrassed, but you are happy and excited, not because you caught them off guard and ruined their facade, but because you realize that this person you love and so admire is just like you, they aren't perfect, they aren't wonder woman,  they've just always presented their very best side to you.  You still love your friend and respect her and want to be like her, but now you realize you don't have to be perfect, you don't have to strive to always have everything in place, that you only have to be the best YOU you can be, that even those who may appear "perfect" are really just the same as you, we all have dustbunnies and hidden messes stashed under and in the couches and closets of our lives.

It's always great when we come to the realization that we don't have to be our idea of "perfect" or somebody else's idea of perfect, we simply have to do the best we can with what we have.  It's OK to hang out in sweats and not comb our hair, its' OK to do up our hair and dress our best when we feel like it.  It's all about finding balance, having respect for ourselves and taking care of ourselves, not about being in some kind of competition to be perfect.  We can learn from messiness just as much as we can learn from perfection, it all has a lesson for us to learn, so don't be afraid of either one...just relax, embrace yourself and all that you are and know that you are deeply loved no matter how "perfect" or not "perfect" you are!