This weekend, my church is having a picnic. Less than two months ago, not long after I’d started my new job at my church, I found out that I would be the person in charge of planning this picnic. And then I found out that this wasn’t just any picnic. It was a campus-wide worship service plus baptisms plus picnic for about 800 people.
Long story short, that’s why I haven’t been blogging much – or consistently – lately. While I realize that the world isn’t going to start spinning more slowly next week, I’m hoping my head will. Until then . . .
Do you know my friend Nester? She’s only totally famous. [And hilarious and sweet and super smart, but now it just sounds like I’m sucking up.] And every October she writes on the same topic for 31 days in a row – and asks her friends to do the same thing.
Not the same topic. Just the same commitment to writing about one thing for one long month. This year, I’m excited to join her – but I need your help.
I’m going to write every day in October about giving up on perfect. Duh. Seems like a no-brainer, right? My plan is to write my way – and possibly yours – to feeling a little more comfortable in my imperfect skin. Where you come in is in what ways we are giving up on perfect.
What areas do you struggle with perfectionism the most? Parenting? Housework? Diet or exercise? Keeping in touch with friends or caught up on your scrapbooking? Kicking bad habits or starting new good ones? Painting your nails or ironing your pants? Reading the classics, the Bible or your horoscope? Juggling your job and your life? Cooking dinner more than you order out?
Please share the areas where you’d most like to give up on perfect, and we’ll work through it together this fall!
Hi Mary,
Great idea! Living the “Christian Life” it would seem everyone has their own opinion what that looks like and home cleaning.
That’s a great topic, Janet. It’s true that everyone has their own idea about what the Christian life should look like. Personally, I think that’s okay, so maybe our “giving up on perfect” part would be focusing on what God wants for us instead of comparing ourselves to others. Hmmm….I’m thinking now… :) Thanks for the topic!
I think one of my biggest struggles is accepting that I only have so much energy, and some days it’s not enough to cover exercising, chasing my strong-willed 3-year-old all day, cleaning, fixing dinner, and still having anything left for my husband when the kid goes to bed. I just can’t do it all every day, and I need to give myself more grace about it.
You’re right. We can’t do it all! We’ll talk about this, for sure, in October!!
Oh, is this a loaded question? As a recovering perfectionist, I had to say yes to just about everything on your list. ;)
For sure, housework and hosting. I really struggling with having people in my home on a “normal” day, because I worry about what they will think of me if things don’t look “perfect”. Even knowing that I have three small kids, who love, love, love, to make messes, I struggle so much with our house not being magazine clean.
Blergh. Housework just stinks, doesn’t it? It will be hard (because I don’t really have a good answer!), but I definitely want to address this one in a big way. Thanks, fellow perfectionist in recovery! :)
Oh my…
My to-do list. I don’t tend to have a lot of grace for myself when I don’t complete the to-do list… which is a shame because it’s pretty frequently that I don’t make it all the way through my to-do list!
Yes, that’s a great one. I think we should talk about these to-do lists and how they control us instead of the other way around! Great topic!
I struggle with perfectionism in almost every area of my life. What I’ve learned is that my desire for perfection reveals two things about my heart: 1. My desires and my agenda, “what I want and want NOW” tend to rule and reign in my heart (yuck)! 2. When imperfection happens (ie- things don’t go MY way, the way I planned, my to-do list is not complete) I have an anxious heart and guilt which are not from God. In fact Christ died to set me free from myself and my perfectionism and all the baggage that comes with it.
The truth is that God is doing a good work in me which he will bring to completion and “perfection” (Philippians 1:6) and my body is groaning for that day of perfection (Romans 8:23). Until then I must fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, and not on all the imperfections. Because focusing on the imperfections just might be what the enemy uses to keep my from God’s perfect will for me… and I don’t want to miss out on that!
Blessings,
Beth
Beth, what a great word on perfectionism and God’s love. Thank you.
I’d like to see a post on giving up on the idea of a perfect husband. He doesn’t exist anyway… Except in other wives’ Facebook statuses! Lol
AMEN to that, Cara. It is on my list!
I gave up on praying the perfect prayer and just started talking to God. Sometimes I feel that I view praying differently than most Christians, and it used to sort of bother me. I got over that, and now God and I just have conversations like He’s my friend and listening to me.
Also, as far as dieting goes, I’m still trying to give up that perfection. The best thing I can do for myself is learn from my mistakes and move on (which is sort of a mantra of mine that I use for all sorts of ‘mistakes’). I try not to dwell on what I ate yesterday or even earlier today because I can’t change it. All I can do is strive to do better tomorrow. Just for Today!
Speaking of things I can’t change, that’s another big one for me. If it’s something I can’t change, then why get all in a tizzy over it? I’d rather spend my energy on the things that I CAN change. I guess that’s the Serenity Prayer :)
I can’t wait for your October posts now :)
Tonya, I’m sure I will be writing about giving up on the perfect diet! And I love the topic of the Perfect Prayer and giving up on it. I’m adding that to my list. Thank you!
Let’s see: I’ve already given up on perfect grammar (sorry), so here I go:
Parenting, for sure
Getting my child to eat green vegetables
Saving for retirement (I’m actually serious about that…or saving more in general)
Buying perfect presents for people (that can be so frustrating sometimes)
Giving myself permission to waste time (watching tv that isn’t Masterpiece Theater)
Getting my dog to listen to me…he’s mad that I’m pregnant
That’s what I’ve got. I’m looking forward to seeing what you write.
Great list of ideas, Sarah! Thank you! (Although, I’m going to tell you now that I have no authority over my own stupid pets, so we might be out of luck on that one!)