A New Logo for a New Year! And Permission to to be Imperfect…

Hey, look, it’s a Brand New Logo! Wheeeee!

Shout out to Andrew Maher, of Maher-velous Graphic Design for turning my Misfit design dreams into reality…   (I just totally made that name up, by the way…  cause I think it’s a cool name… plus I’m weird… but I’m NOT making Andrew up.
He’s for real.  And he’s pretty cool.)  

So, let’s see… what else?

Oh yeah.  Imperfection.

Well… now that we’re almost a whole week into 2018… let’s talk about that.

How’s the whole resolution thing going?

The diet?  The gym?  The quitting this/starting that?

The Discipline?

Yeah.  That’s what I thought.

It’s discouraging.  I know.

That’s why I think it’s a terrible way to start out a New Year,
this whole setting ourselves up for failure thing.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not anti-resolution.  Not really.

But I am anti-perfection.  Passionately so.

This comes from a long and illustrious career as a Type B Perfectionist.
Oh, You’ve never heard of us?  We ARE out there, believe you me.
And we’re the WORST kinds of perfectionists there are.
Sure, we may look all laid back and “go with the flow” on the outside…
kind of like how Olympic figure skaters make it look “easy”…
but inwardly, oh the pressure, oh the self flagellation… you have no idea.
Sure, we can’t help but stop and smell the roses… but we also can’t help feeling guilty about it.  And we try, oh how we try to be organized… “pinteresting”…  or at least match our socks… but our desires always seem to be at odds with our wiring.
And it seems that never the twain shall meet.

Like I said, it’s discouraging.

So there you  go, Happy New Year!  Godbless, b’bye now!

No, not really.  You knew I wouldn’t leave you hanging here.

Ok,  now for the good news…

Now get ready for this.

Cause it’s really good news.  And the beauty of it is, it’s simple.

But don’t dismiss it just because it’s simple.

Because simple doesn’t mean easy.

Ready?

Here we go.

IT’S OK TO BE IMPERFECT.

No.  Really.

IT’S OK.

I’m not sure you actually believe me.
You say you do.
I see you nodding your head.
Like I’m telling you something you already know.
But  there’s a part of you that’s fighting it.
A part of you is still holding on to this “all or nothing” philosophy.
I get it.
You know perfection is not realistic.
You know it’s futile to even try.
But still, you try.
Why do you try?
Because, in your heart, you know it’s out there.
Perfection exists.
And you know what? I’m not going to disagree with you.
It does exist.
Which is what torments us.
Just knowing it’s out there.  All shiny and elusive.  Calling to us.
All the while knowing…
We’re not capable of reaching it.
But that doesn’t stop us from trying.
And beating ourselves up when we inevitably don’t attain it.

Of course, if you happen to be Type A,  that means Game On – your fire has been
fueled to go on another day.  But for us Type B Perfectionists… it’s a losing game, man.
And it makes us think there’s no point playing if there’s no chance of winning.

So let’s change the rules of the game.
Let’s reframe what it means to win.
Better yet, let’s let God do that.
Yes, God.
(You didn’t think you were going to read this whole thing
and not hear something about God, now did you? Silly Misfit)

Let’s talk less about achieving perfection and more about leveraging it.

So you ate the thing you said you wouldn’t eat…
Said the thing you said you wouldn’t say… did the thing you said you wouldn’t do…
and didn’t do the thing you said you were going to?

You missed the mark.  And now you’re ready to give up?

Perfect!

Weakness, meet Grace.

The Grace where you’ll find power where you are weak.  Mercy where you have failed.  And the Strength to keep going when your Type B perfectionism tells you it’s no use.

The Grace that helps you forget what’s behind, strain toward what’s ahead, and press on towards the goal… (that’s from Philippians 3, in case you thought I was being profound on my own or something).

In other words, Weakness, meet Perfection.

Because it’s not just ok for us to be imperfect.  It’s actually required.

And the great thing is, you and I are already more than qualified.
We just need to embrace it.

And then press on…

 

 

… like I said, I’m not anti-resolutions – so I’d love to hear your thoughts
about grace and goal setting!