In order to move from Perfectionism into living wholeheartedly, we must let go of what people think. Brene Brown says that Perfectionism is not about striving for excellence. Many people think, “If I look perfect, do it perfect, work perfect and live perfect, I can avoid and minimize shame, blame and judgement. Brown says that Perfectionism is the fear that the world is going to see you as you are and you won’t measure up to others’ expectations. There is no such thing as being beyond judgement. The notion that you can be perfect is a myth. It is however something we all strive for. The trick is to accept that we are all fallible and that when we fail, we stop and understand what did not work and then think of ways to try again. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb but had to make numerous attempts which did not work. He is quoted to say, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” If it weren’t for people like Edison who was willing to fail enough times to succeed, we would not have many inventions. We must embrace failure as lessons to be learned in order to live wholeheartedly.
