A Study on Perfection, Passions and Purpose

I'm not perfect, y'all.

Shocker, right? No, for real. I'm super not perfect. Let me tell you a little story. I'm currently experiencing the aftermath of this here bad idea, and it still hurts. Let's begin.

My family hiked Mount Timpanogos this past weekend. It was a thrill, for sure. I don't know what my favorite part was - getting delayed by a family of moose for 15 minutes, signing the book at the shack on the top of the summit, crawling over rocks because I'm terrified of heights, it was an adventure. But that's not what I'm talking about.

No, I'm talking about my sunburn.

You see, it was chilly, and so I was deceived. I didn't think it would be that bad. So when my mom reminded us all to put on sun screen, I just put a little on my cheeks and trusted that maybe I'd get a little color, finally putting to rest my little brothers making fun of me because they're redheads and still have darker skin than me.

Well, I wasn't wrong. I definitely got color. On my arms, my neck, and my face above my eyes. And that color is RED. I LOOK LIKE A LOBSTER. I can't turn my head very well because then my neck skin creases and gets irritated. My eyebrows are on fire. Wearing necklaces? Forget about it. Unless I wanted to experiment with pain, and even I don't venture that far into the neurotic. And this is the sort of thing I get myself into all the time, because I'm ridiculous, and I don't think things through as much as I should, and I am stupid sometimes, and I mess up, and I'm not perfect, okay?

My pride is like, cringing away from this blog post right now, because I'm like "No one is supposed to know that I am 1) somewhat vain and 2) sometimes not super bright." But then, why not? I'm sure similar embarrassing things have happened to you, and that's not meant to be a slight on your intelligence. That's just me being aware that you are a human and humans are silly and goofy every once in awhile. No one is in control of their lives 100% of the time.

I think we forget this sometimes. I think with the glitter of social media and everyone posting their perfect pictures of their perfect trips with their cute perfect families, and in daily conversations where no one says anything but "good" or "great" when someone asks how we are because we don't want to be honest because we don't want people to think we're not perfect like them, and at church and work and in social situations all we ever are is good or great or perfect. Life is just perfect. Except, y'all, my lobster face would like to call you out on this one.

PERFECT IS FAKE.

That's true across the board, for everything. No one is perfectly kind all the time, or perfectly sensible, or even perfectly consistent, and we've gotta be okay with that. People change their minds, people flake, people break promises on accident and on purpose and we have to forgive them for that because we all do it. You do it too. We can't resent people for changing their interests, or their intentions, or their hearts. If we resent people for changing, we resent everyone, all the time. It's impossible for us to be perfect right now cause we're all growing into it.

This isn't to say we shouldn't have expectations at all in our relationships with others, because that just plain ain't healthy. But what I think I'm getting at is that we need to be okay with where people are now as well as where they could be later. There's nothing more inspirational than a friend who loves you for who you are and can also see the person you want to be. That takes real love and forgiveness, so my first invitation to you is this: deepen your love for your friends and your family. I suppose that looks different for everyone, but y'all do it, okay?

My second thought I'm having is that we could do more to encourage those around us to follow their dreams and change the world and all that stuff. Like, you guys, have you realized that there are people all around you and with the occasional exception every single one of them wants to BE something? Or DO something? Or HAVE something? Or all 3?

What if we did something about that? What if we were a little teeny bit more open with others about what our dreams were - and what if we were excited about what our loved ones were excited about? What if when people shared their goals with us, we pitched in to help them instead of doubting or criticizing - or even the well-intentioned route, telling them just how difficult their big crazy dream is going to be? What if everyone person who shared a dream or a wish with you became your cheerleader and you became theirs? Wouldn't that be an inspiring place to live?

I think that's doable! I think it is totally reasonable to suggest that we turn away from the criticism and toward the encouragement end. A lot more would get done. A lot more people would be helped. And a lot more dreams would come true. *insert a Disney musical interlude here*

I believe we were put on earth together for a reason, and that's because we need each other. I think a great way to reach our potential is to be there for each other.

Let's just spread the love, be each others' fairy godmothers, and brighten up the world a little.

You got this!

Love, Em