I am elated to have my first ever guest blogger – my very own kindred spirit, partner-in-crime, avid traveler, best friend, WHYS Girls owner, and sister – Karissa Littlejohn. Check out her blog here. Ecstatic to have her piece as a part of my collection is an understatement:
I haven’t blogged in a while. One month to be exact. I’ve had a lot going on. So many things in the works. I worked all morning putting together my organizations newsletter. First I used one site. Once completed, I hated the formatting, so I started all over on a new site. I finalized it on the new site, and realized that I’d be unable to publish it in the way that I wanted. Aggravated, but having no more time to spend on it, I pushed “send.” As I pushed send, a still small voice whispered, “your perfectionism is killing you.”
My name is Karissa, and I am a perfectionist.
Whether it is the perfect selfie, the perfect blog, the perfect hand-written sign, the perfect email, or the perfect newsletter – I have spent hours, days, possibly years of my life making things “perfect.”
I threw a going away party for a young lady, and I literally re-wrote this sign 20-30 times. Wouldn’t want anyone to see that I can’t free-hand perfectly scripted words in a straight line now, would I?
Or the picture I had my sister retake 40 times. The picture of me “casually” gazing out of window.
My life is full of fun moments, great ideas, and good intentions that I have allowed my perfectionism to turn into exhausting feats that leave no time to do anything else.
Several things happen when everything has to be perfect:
- You frustrate yourself
- You frustrate people around you
- You waste time
- You procrastinate to the point of not accomplishing anything
And the truth is: the people that matter already know that you are not perfect. The people that matter see your intentions. In a world that tells you that everything you do, say or present to the world should be error free, KNOW that NO error can keep you from what’s yours, if your intentions are pure.
Today I break up with perfection. Today I choose to do my best within the time I have allotted to spend on a task. Today I choose to be imperfect. To be flawed. To be human. And I hope you choose the same.
Ever allowed perfectionism to get the best of you? Connect with me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to share your stories.
Blog was originally posted on Traveling Kay LJ
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