Giving Up on Perfect

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans’ moods since 1972, women are becoming less happy.  Though there are several variables, I think one big reason for less joy and more gloom is women's self imposed drive to be perfect.  Decades ago, women kept house, reared kids, shopped, cooked and myriad other domestic duties.  Today, women keep house, rear kids, shop, cook, work full time, run car pools, volunteer and often do all this alone.  But, instead of women lowering their standards with the increased demands, we’ve raised them.

Success isn’t getting it done; success is getting it done perfectly.  We feel the pressure to look perfect, have the perfect home and perfect family. Consequently, we tend to beat ourselves up when things aren’t going well in relationships, take things more personally at work and swallow more pills to make us feel better.  What’s a girl to do?

Give up on perfect.  Don’t give up on responsibilities and having realistic standards; just give up on perfect. Extend the same mercy to yourself that you give to others-you don’t expect them to be perfect, do you?  Of course not.  Have realistic expectations of yourself also.  Faith in Christ invites us to renounce perfection because faith lets us receive God’s strength and rest in His opinion of us. God created you.  He is perfect, not you!  When you rest in Him and in whom He made you to be, it’s easier to loosen your grip of perfectionism.  When you let go of your need to be perfect you receive far more satisfaction than you’re striving can offer—you receive the perfect love of God that has never given up on you.

So rest today. God is perfectly in control; perfectly kind and perfectly wise.  You be you and watch His perfect grace carry you.  And you will find that you’ve beaten those statistics—you’ll be a much happier woman!

Comments

[Jodie]

Thanks for the reminder.

Blessings,
Pearls

[~Grace & Peace]

I'm visiting from Lysa's blog. I'd like to say she sent me here but judging from the topic of your post, it's a God thing. He wanted me to read this because this is one (among many) area of my life where I struggle. My perfection leads to inaction.