We live in a world where fake perfection is donned on every corner of the street. When we look up at the massive, looming billboards and see the Photoshop touch-ups on every model that makes them look like demi-gods, we realize that we can never be that “perfect”. Not to forget the troubles that come with social media: the world looks like it is completely filled with beautiful, glossy people with perfect lives and amazing bliss that we never seem to get. It almost looks like their perfect faces take them to perfect lives. Trouble is, anyone can learn to use Photoshop. Models certainly aren’t perfect. In fact, nobody can be perfect. We all know this, sure, but that doesn’t mean that we believe it completely. Photo filters can be tricky, and people with perfect lives keep popping up on our news feeds. This inadvertently reminds us of our flaws, and most of us feel strong negativity towards them. When we learn to accept our flaws though, we begin to understand that there can be perfection even in being flawed. There are some wonderful things that happen when we embrace our flaws instead of turning away from them:
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You focus on who you are
The pursuit of perfect can actually take you further away from who you are. All of us are born as unique individuals, and our weaknesses and strengths are an important part of our identity. If we try to make ourselves perfect, we don’t let other parts of ourselves grow because we are fixated on only one thing. When we accept that we are imperfect, we begin to take it easy, and start looking at all the different parts of ourselves. We start to develop ourselves holistically, and move towards our authentic self.
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You control your ego
Not being perfect makes us feel bad, and this can result in many negative thought processes. We wish the world paid more attention to us, we start blaming our imperfections for things going wrong in our lives, we begin to victimize ourselves unnecessarily which leads us to become sullen and lazy. These are the tantrums our ego throws, and we control our ego when we stop trying to be perfect.
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You feel lighter
Repressing, hiding, and berating our imperfections can be exhausting and drains our energy. It can even become toxic if we let ourselves feel bad about it for long enough, which can take a toll on our mental well-being. Once we are OK with the person we are though, we don’t let the imperfections bother us as much. It might take time to get there, but once we do, it can feel like a burden is completely off our shoulders, and we feel more liberated to show the world who we really are.
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You improve perspective
When we look at the world as “them” and “me”, or “perfect” and “flawed”, we construct a different reality in our heads. We might believe that people who are perfect have the world handed to them, or that perfect-looking people have no trouble in their lives at all. However, these are false notions. When we accept that no one can actually be perfect, including ourselves, we tilt our perspective. We realize that everyone, including supposedly perfect people, have their own problems and suffering that we never knew about. We begin to realize that everyone is essentially on the same boat, no matter how “perfect” their life seems. This change in perspective can help us be more empathetic and understanding about everyone around us.
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You are healthier
There is no denying that the negative thoughts associated with feeling flawed takes a toll on our physical and mental well-being. You feel more peaceful and content about who you are because the distress and anxiety of not being perfect is muted. The stress that can come with trying to hide any flaws from people around you also reduces, which can be really good for the body.
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You accept other people’s flaws
Finally, we become more accepting of everyone else’s flaws when we are at peace with our own. We become judgmental easily when we are trying to be perfect because attacking other people’s flaws can make us feel better about our own. However, by realizing that everyone has flaws but are wonderful human beings anyway, we make the world a more accepting place. Change starts from within us, and this can lead to changes outside of us too, such as inspiring other people to accept their own flaws.
