The perfect woman
This view in front of me right now seems perfect. A glorious early December day. Blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds. A few seagulls coming in to land upon the light ripples of the river. A brood of cheerful ducks. There is nothing I wish to change. My smile is wide and my being satiated.
However, in one hour the view will be slightly different; yet it will still be perfect. Another person may arrive and sit in the exact spot I’m in and smile like I am now at life’s beauty, and call it a perfect day.
The amusing thing is we tend to take a different approach with ourselves. Or at least I know I can. Questions abound…
Was the younger me of yesterday more perfect than the older me of today?
Is there something I can add to this version of me in this moment that will make me even more perfect?
If I only….. then….?
For the recovering perfectionist in me and the 52 year old woman this reminder I get whenever I sit in nature is paramount to my wellbeing.
Watching her, drinking her in, immersed in her energy, I connect more to that part of myself.
The part, just like nature, that is ever changing.
Our perfection is found in the very fact that we are always growing, evolving, shifting, just like the greater HER.
Perfect is not a static thing. It is not a goal. It is actually a passing moment.
In fact, our desire to go backwards or run forwards, or to change anything in this moment, is how we destroy perfection. Yet, it’s what we’re encouraged to do.
When I was a young girl, we didn’t have phones to take photos with. We had a camera and either a 12, 24 or 36 picture film. We couldn’t edit the photo, add a filter, change the angle. We just took it and then had to wait for a few days till the film was processed.
One of the most exciting bits about going on a holiday was waiting to see the photos. They were a perfect memento of the moment as it was. Just like the view I witnessed by the river.
Being a teenager was challenging in my day too. But probably not as much of a 24/7 job as it is for today’s youth. We had a break. We weren’t always in the public spotlight. We could turn off.
Because I’ve had a tendency for perfection over my lifetime, I do often ponder its source and how it plays out.
For me, it came from a not enough-ness, or even sometimes a too much-ness. Essentially, the belief that if I could only be different, then everything else in my world will be ok.
But if the outer world is a mirror to us, of course if my thinking was one of ‘if only…’, so too will the outer world show me this.
Yet I never knew how to access my true inner world, until I met her in nature, during my illness recovery. And in that connection, my outer world changed. I saw things I never previously knew existed.
I was talking with a friend earlier about how a supporting environment helps us to come home to ourselves, which is our ultimate state of perfection. So for me, being in nature is my supportive environment. Other things too, but she utmost.
Going back to my river moment, imagine if we all walked around knowing this perfection lies in the very thing we often resist. The now.
It’s non-effortive.
How much easier our lives could be.
So with today’s post I really want us to challenge our ideals of perfection. The images we hold up high, even on vision boards or in manifestation. The perfect house, the perfect partner, the perfect job.
And rather to sit back, enjoy the perfect outer moment and see that the same exists in ourselves.
Have a beautiful weekend. Go find a special spot and try this out.
With love,
Sharon
