  Oh I wish I was perfect, but at my age I’ve decided that perfection is an illusion, and an unfair expectation. I want to be the best person that I, being flawed, can be, and I continuously search to improve myself, but I will never be perfect (DANG IT!).
With that realization I started thinking about others, and what we may be passing onto our children. I believe the best skill we can give to ourselves and our children is to love and accept ourselves no matter what. We will make mistakes as people, care givers, and parents et.al. but we should love ourselves through it and tweak what needs to be tweaked in order NOT to repeat the same mistakes.
Falling down is a learning tool. Like learning to walk for a child; by falling down we learn how to better balance ourselves, and how NOT to fall down again. When a baby is learning to walk do we reprimand them when they fall down or do we swiftly pick them up, dry their tears, hug them, and set them down to start the process all over again? We should do the same for ourselves. When we blow a test, a social interaction, a parenting situation or a vast array of other situations we should brush ourselves off, give ourselves an internal hug, and set off again to learn how not to engage in the same behavior, and allow others in our lives to do the same. Allow others in our lives to be imperfect too. I believe that by letting go of the idea of perfection for ourselves we will let go of the idea that everyone else isn’t perfect either, and thus purchasing a less stressful life….but that’s just me.
