Embracing Your Imperfections to See Your Divine Perfection

To discover your divine perfection, you have to courageously embrace all of your imperfections. To see who you truly are, you have to excavate all that inhibits your full self-expression. To step into your light, you must allow yourself to make mistakes, experience disappointments, acknowledge our failures, and create messes.  

As Anne Lamott writes in Bird by Bird, “Perfectionism is a mean, frozen form of idealism, while messes are the artist’s true friend. What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.”  Your greatest mistakes, biggest messes, and perfect imperfections are your best teachers. The process of trusting yourself, letting go of fear and control, and embracing your imperfections may not be neat and tidy—but if you do it enough, it will eventually put you in touch with your most authentic self.  

Awakening to your authentic self leads you to letting go of who you think you should be and embracing who you really are. Living authentically is like singing karaoke. At first, you may be anxious; yet each time you let go and surrender your need for perfection you begin living “out loud.” Your mind may still race with thoughts such as, “I’m afraid to make a mistake,” or, “I can’t sing as well as my friends.” Yet, when you continually override these negative beliefs with positive affirmations, and let go of what others think, you express yourself soul-heartedly.  

Here are 4 ways to embrace your imperfections and live out loud as the divine being you are: 

1. Practice self-compassion. Stop beating yourself up or putting yourself down every time you see an imperfection, make a mistake, or share a vulnerability. Instead, lovingly remind yourself that you are a divine being worthy of love. Your thoughts, feelings, and choices are part of your human experience for you to spiritually evolve—even when you step in dog poop while wearing your most expensive shoes, break your favorite vase, lose a job, or hurt someone you love. Lovingly speak to yourself as if you were talking with your best friend, someone you love dearly. 
2. Forgive your mistakes and messes. When you make a mistake or a mess, bless yourself, and release blame, resentment, and judgment. Remind yourself that mistakes are simply opportunities for you to transform your life. Coach yourself by using supportive self-talk to clear negative thoughts and reactions, replacing them with encouraging phrases such as “Open your heart and let go,” and “Let it be.”  
3. Focus on your intention and energy, not the perfect outcome. Let go of the need to make the “perfect” choice. The pattern of perfectionism keeps you from making any choice at all. When fearful of making an imperfect choice, remember that you can always choose again. 
4. Accept all aspects of you. Accept all of your weaknesses and imperfections cultivates compassion toward yourself and others. Spend time alone and confront the source of your feelings of unworthiness. Be compassionate company with yourself, as if you are with an old, trusted friend. Write a love letter to your inner little girl letting her know she is loved and loveable just the way she is with all her flaws and imperfections.   

Trusting yourself and letting go gives you the freedom to see your imperfections in a new light. Instead of feeling ashamed of them, courageously embrace them and see them as the gifts they are.