There's a falsehood that seems to be circulating throughout the media, the education system, and within general business that failure is not an option. This is also being pushed to such an extent that we're told that people that do fail were never cut out to do what they were doing in the first place. Society, it seems, want's to convey an idea that falling short is a weakness, and that only the strong come out on top and stay on top. Further, that if you don't start at the top, you'll never reach the top. It's almost as if the idea is that you arrive before you arrive. Let me be really frank on this point.
They're wrong.
Everyone falls short in their life. As much as we'd like to think that we have it all together, that we can get there without any bumps and bruises, it's simply not true. More importantly, at least to me that is, falling short is what makes us who we are. It drive us to be better, it focuses our attention on what matters, it helps refine our sharp edges and smooth out our own path. In short, when we fall down, when we miss the mark, when we take a good punch to the chin, we learn. When we learn, we figure out who we are and how not to repeat the same mistakes. To me, in those moments of being humbled, I'm reminded of how good it feels when it finally works, when I finally achieve my goal, when I finally complete the task.
This idea that we have to be perfect in all that we do is nothing more than hype. No one is perfect. No one will ever be perfect. So why do we kill ourselves trying to be 'perfect'? Keeping that in mind let me say this. There's something unbelievably liberating when we fully accept that we aren’t and can't be perfect. It's liberating because that frees us to make mistakes. It frees us to learn. It frees us to try something that we previously wouldn't do, simply because we've given ourselves the opportunity to miss the mark. When we're so focused on being perfect, we miss out on the opportunities that abound, simply because we're so bent on being 'this' that we fail to see that we can be 'that', too.
In the face of all the messages surrounding us to be flawless, perfectly shaped, perfectly sized, perfectly this, and perfectly that, I want to tell you that you can take all of that and flush it. It's great to pursue being the best you that you can be. In fact, that's the goal of life. But that's being the best you that you can be - not the most perfect you that you can be. Best implies that you're a work in progress, and that you've given yourself room to grow. Best means that you're pushing yourself as hard as you can, but that you're not quite there yet. Best means you've embraced the journey of life for all that it is, good and bad.
So for all of you taking a moment to read this, give yourself some slack. We all fall short once in a while. The important thing is to try to learn from those moments and not repeat the mishaps. Fall, learn, take action, go. Give yourself some room to fall short and stop trying to reach the unattainable bar. There's a whole world around you waiting to greet you for just who you are. Besides, if you were perfect, how boring would life be?
Justin