It seems that we are always counting down to something: a vacation; a birthday; a relationship; or a graduation. These milestones end up being one culminating moment in a series of adventures; the biggest ones end up as framed photographs and bragging rights. The smaller successes end up as happy memories and #TBTs. But, let's face it, life's big successes are a small fraction of our actual experiences.
Not every human is a perfectionist, an idealist or an optimist, but we'd be lying to ourselves if we didn't admit that we sometimes get our hopes up. After one too many disappointments, we learn to expect less from our endeavors instead of realizing that the messy bits of life are possibly the most rewarding.
Sometimes, the build-up to your birthday leaves you disappointed when it's over. Sometimes, planning the Halloween costume is way more exciting than wearing it. Sometimes, making sure graduation photos are cute and every extended family member is thanked personally overrides the sense of accomplishment and celebration of the commencement.
Sometimes, in our biggest moments, we wait and wait and wait for that perfect instant until it's over, and happiness passes us by.
Even if we're not looking for perfection, pinning our expectations on how we think we should feel based on our friends or our fairy tales makes every real life moment shine a little less brightly. After all, comparison is the thief of joy.
So, what's the point?
In any attempt for perfection, you lose little bits of the joy of the journey. In the process of trying to have a moment of perfection after hours, days, months or years of work, you risk discrediting the blissful imperfections and mistakes along the way that made your success possible.
In a world that's always changing and evolving, packed with deadlines and emergencies and spontaneity, it is impossible to measure ourselves and our experiences to a level where 100 percent is the only result worth celebrating.
Perfection is an unsustainable goal, so if you seek a constantly perfect life, it's impossible. If you seek perfection in accomplishments and pre-planned moments, your happiness will be fleeting.
Let's put it this way: You can do a lot of things well before you can do one thing perfectly. You can laugh a lot before you can brag a little. The messiest parts of life are often in moments of extreme emotion. There are terrible situations in which we learn and blissful situations in which we are careless and free.
It's OK to eat cake batter instead of baking the perfect cake. It's OK to spill your coffee and stain your notebook's pages. It's OK to get a little messy, say something a little silly, take risks outside your comfort zone, and have adventures outside of the confines of your planner.
If we let ourselves make mistakes, we can find ourselves laughing on our bedroom floors with our best friends at 3 a.m. We can find joy in our sorrows when the people we love are there for us. We can celebrate a difficultly-won B-.
Life is never going to be Pinterest-perfect. At the end of the road, I hope you're able to combine your little victories and big successes and realize that a life fully lived is never wasted, and time spent smiling is time well spent.
