Don't Be Perfect - Be You

"Don't be perfect

Be you

Don't be what you think they want you to be

Be what you know you are

Don't look outside yourself for anything

It's all within.

~Jackson Kiddard

A great reminder that being perfect won't make us happy, even though we may have been conditioned to believe otherwise. There is no perfect person and there is no perfect life. 

When we try to be perfect, we reject who we are. As a result, we don't feel good about ourselves or maybe even ashamed. When we accept our imperfections, we embrace ourselves as we are. It doesn't mean that we stop growing or changing - we just don't withhold our love for ourselves until we reach some future state that may never arrive.  We can feel good about ourselves right now and as a result, we become happier. ♥ 

Manuela loves helping others bring more happiness into their lives!  You can visit Manuela's Website for Personal Success Coaching and check out her upcoming “Secrets to Happiness” Workshop!

I Am a Perfectly Imperfect Human Being

I ran across this quote by Jackson Kiddard today and I loved the message of complete self-acceptance as well as the acceptance of others.  We are all perfectly imperfect. What if we could just embrace our imperfections as well as those of others? Wouldn't we be much happier?

His full quote reads:

"Today I affirm that there is nothing in me but love.
This love comes from total acceptance of myself
and the understanding that I am a perfectly imperfect human being.
I will walk through today and allow myself to fully express my perfection.
I realize that all my "faults" are actually the Universe's unique way of expressing itself through me.
I let go of self judgment and any projected judgments of others that I have chosen to believe
and finally allow myself to just be what I truly am:  infinite.
As this is true for me, so it is true for all other beings on the planet.
I will choose to accept everyone in my life with the same radical acceptance I have for myself
knowing that we are all perfectly imperfect human beings simply doing the best we can.
And so it is."

~Jackson Kiddard 



Manuela loves helping others bring more happiness into their lives!  You can visit Manuela's Website for Personal Success Coaching and check out her upcoming “Secrets to Happiness” Workshop!
 

Whether you think you are enough or whether you think you are not – you are right!

Our beliefs create our reality – it sounds like such a cliché, but it is true. The way we experience our life is very much shaped by our beliefs.

This often happens without us even realizing it. Most of us have a belief deep inside that is some form of “not being enough” – whether it’s not smart enough, beautiful enough, thin enough, successful enough, or interesting enough. We often go through life and interpret events based on this belief.

We don’t get the job we wanted, we don’t get invited to a party, we don’t hear back from a friend. It’s easy to immediately think that it’s because we are not good enough, not popular enough, not important enough. And because we like to be right, we continue to collect evidence that our belief is true.  

He didn’t call as he said he would. My friend wasn’t supportive when I talked to her about a problem. I didn’t get any comments or likes on my Facebook posting. So it must be true. I am really not good enough, not popular enough, not important enough.

I now also act a certain way based on my beliefs. Since I don’t believe I am good enough or important enough, I don’t tell people about my wants and needs. As a result, others don’t consider them. I don’t invite others over. So I don’t have friends coming to my place. I use this as further evidence that I am not important.

What would happen if I decided to believe something different? What if I decided that I was going to believe that I am good enough and important? I would start collecting evidence that this was true instead. A friend trusted me enough to confide in me, a colleague asked me out to lunch, my niece drew me a picture. So it must be true. I am really good enough and important.

And I start behaving a different way. I tell others about my needs and wants. I invite people over. I initiate conversations. So others consider what I need and want. My friends invite me in return. I have more meaningful interactions with people.

And I interpret events differently. I realize that not everything is because of me – people are busy, distracted, stressed, and are dealing with their own issues.

My experience of life is a completely different one, even with exactly the same life circumstances, based on this different belief.

We really do create our own reality. So select your belief carefully. Which one will you choose?