Daily Reminder # 18

NOBODY's perfect.

We all make mistakes. We all fail at one point or another to satisfy some other person's vision. At such times, it may be good to remind ourselves that the other person isn't perfect either. In any case, perfection isn't all that it's cracked up to be because it isn't real. There is no such thing.

For many of us, most of the judgement we feel from others is actually something we project onto them from inside ourselves. We read every look and word from others through the lenses of our inner tyrants who revel in trying to convince us that we are inadequate to every task we undertake and who whisper unkind nothings about every look, whisper and sigh uttered by everyone else on the planet. If we allow it, our inner critics - I call them The Demonalians - dedicate themselves to keeping us in constant fear of failure and inadequacy.

My therapist - the very patient and kind Dr. Jim - spent years slowly getting me to realize that the things I got reactive to, the criticisms and judgments - were my own. This doesn't mean that other people aren't sometimes critical. But the critic we are listening to, the one with the power and the real cruelty (at least in my case) is the one inside my head.

So I repeat. Nobody's perfect. Perfection is non-existent. But everybody is perfectly imperfect. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating. You are awesome.

Some things I'm grateful for today:

• the telephone
• the color green
• the delights and surprises of imperfection
• Miracle Foot Repair cream
• Dr. Jim
• teddy bears

May today be the start of a wonderful week!