Day Twenty Seven - Not Being Perfect

Today I'm Grateful for:-

Today I'm grateful for not having to be perfect.

These days we put so much pressure on ourselves to be good at everything, good at our jobs, keeping the cleanest house, cooking, taking care of the family and extended family, doing community service, sports, and the list goes on.

Today I discovered something wonderful.

 I was painting a creepy little picture of a crazy cat and a cupcake (hey, that sounds like a great title for a book....hmm.) and noticed the face was wonky and that the cupcake looked like it's on stilts and I was worried about how my Lizzie would like it, as I had painted it for her.

And there she was, laughing at how cute the cat looked, and the saying underneath it...Mmm cupcake...

For the first time, I realised that it wasn't how good the painting was, but the fact that I had fun with her while we were painting. I remember telling her when she was little that it didn't matter how good she was at something, as long as she did her best and had fun doing it.

As we get older, we get more coordinated, our fine motor skills develop and we get better at all those things that as a child we found so frustrating. But then we tend to expect more of ourselves, and that is a good thing, to a point. Because, as I discovered today, if you forget to enjoy yourself while you are doing them, then it ends up being just another chore. Just something else that other people expect to be done to a certain standard.

But you know what? Bugger it! If I want to paint a crazy cat with a stilted cupcake, and it makes me happy, then that's what I will paint. If I want to take photos of lopsided flowers, then that's what I will photograph. And damnitall, who is judging me anyway? You? I really don't think you are. Not any more, because now I also know that not only is it ok for me to not be perfect, but neither are you and that's ok too.

Just for today, don't be so hard on yourself, and try and practise not being perfect. I promise you will have more fun... I did.

Kisses

Julie