Seeing Past Our Flaws - Finding Beauty In Them

I think there's natural beauty in our flaws. And the simple truth is, no one is perfect. We all have our short comings. Flaws. Constantly striving for perfection can be counter productive. Perfection is like a dog chasing its tail.It's unattainable. There will always be someone faster, someone prettier, someone more charming, smarter, more attractive and funnier than us. Perfection gives a false sense of hope and belief that there is a ceiling as to achieving the "right way " to be.

I believe that each one of us has an immeasurable amount of possibility within. And in order to achieve that possibility we need to overcome the fears that come with our flaws. May it be physical or something more deep within. Easier said than done, eh?

We are reminded everyday by our parents and elders that we need to learn how to accept ourselves as who we are. We have to be able to see the best version of us and not base our standards and success with the success of others around us. We are taught in school that it is important to be yourself and not rely on others' expectations of us. That the flaws we have are innate to our nature and genetic make up and that we must learn how to accept them and make the most out of them. They become unique to us. The flaws make us different from one another.

However, in a world where we are constantly reminded of the superficial beauty and glamour, where people make it there life's mission to flaunt their six packs, or 24 inch waistline and perfect tan, or their successful careers and 6-7 digit monthly salaries and two door cars or their luxury items collections...it does become harder tojust accept our flaws. In fact, we hate them. We see them as a hindrance to achieving our own kind of success. These are the flaws that we experience and have difficulty accepting. Jealousy, anxiety, spite, vindictiveness, laziness and unproductiveness. A lot of us have trouble dealing with anxiety, anger,sadness and criticism. Many of us are overly insecure of our appearance and statute in life that we are overly critical of ourselves and others. We destroy relationships, friendships and ourselves because we become slaves to achieving the so-called 'perfection' that everyone seems to have except you.

How do we see past our flaws? How do we get over them and look at them as a challenge and look at it on a positive note? I believe that it would be much easier if we could just all be honest with ourselves and accept our inherent flaws and learn to cope and understand them. Maybe if we embraced our humanness instead of trying to deny them, or maybe if we accepted the truth about ourselves and then recognize it as part of our authenticity, then maybe we wouldn't have such a bad life as we believe we do. Because denying our being human doesn't breed self-confidence and denying that we have flaws do not build self-respect.

Once we've determined how to grow within them, I believe that we can live a much more satisfying life than wishing we were different than who we are.

XOXO,

Karen