Why Embracing Your Imperfection Is a Healthier Way To Live

I know it’s crazy to disagree with Tim Grahl, the bestselling author, speaker and book marketing executive; but I have to call “bullsxxt”. In his best selling book Running Down a Dream, Tim compares us all to Golden Buddhas – perfect and good on the inside. If you want to know why this belief will lead to frustration and disappointment, then read-on and learn how to view yourself in a healthier and more forgiving way.

Tim Grahl and his Golden Buddha story

I first heard Tim speak at the 2018 Tribe Conference hosted by Jeff Goins, a meet-up for creatives and authors. Tim is a great speaker. He is raw and open about his personal and professional failures.

What helped Tim overcome his fears and tame “the crazy man chained to the radiator” (which is how Tim referred to himself) was this conclusion, “When you do things that are healthy and good, that is you. When you do things that are unhealthy and bad, that’s just the layers on top. It’s not you.”

What Tim’s referring to is the story of the Golden Buddha. I won’t rehash the Golden Buddha’s entire history, but over a 200 year period a nondescript Buddha statue covered in layers of black plaster and stucco bounced from temple to temple in Thailand.

In 1954 as the statue sat under a thin tin roof in a small pagoda, it tipped over and broke the outside layer of plaster, revealing a solid gold inside. $200 million worth of solid gold inside!

So why do I disagree with the Golden Buddha comparison?

We’re not all Golden Buddhas

I wish all my bad stuff was just years of disgusting gunk that’s covered-up my perfect and good inside.

But let me ask you a question: when was the last day or the last hour or the last 15 minutes you were “perfect”?! And when I say perfect, I mean:

• in what you did,

• in what you thought, and

• in what you said.

PERFECT.

A couple thousand years ago St. Paul said this about his ability to control his “goodness”:

“I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.” Rom 7:18-19 MSG

Don’t you feel that way sometimes?

Frustrated by your inability to do the right thing?

OR

Frustrated by your inability to stop doing the wrong thing?

Now let me tell you why this is important.

The world is saying that you need to be perfect inside and out. Perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect skin, perfect body, perfect grades, perfect smarts, perfect decisions, perfect opinions, perfect this and perfect that.

No wonder there’s so much stress and anxiety in the world, everybody is trying to live up to something they can’t achieve.

Don’t you just want to be valued for who you are?

Don’t listen to the world. You don’t need to be perfect.

Here’s something else: NO ONE ELSE IS PERFECT EITHER!

So let me tell you a better and healthier way to view yourself and the world.

It’s O.K. to be Imperfect

You now may be asking, “If I’m not perfectly good, well what am I?”

I have one word for it: Imperfect

But hang with me, don’t get upset, imperfect is not equal to bad.

Imperfect simply means that we’re not perfectly good.

Being imperfect is a natural condition of our humanity. Viewing ourselves as imperfect is a realistic and practical way to view ourselves.

Understanding that we’re imperfect is liberating. Why? Because:

• You can be more forgiving of yourself. AND

• You can be more forgiving of other people.

When you understand that our human condition is imperfect, you’ll be more:

• Compassionate

• Free

• Generous

• Humble

• Kind

• Patient

• Self-accepting

• Self-controlled

To sum it up, thinking that you’re inherently good will lead to frustration. You will never live-up to the lie of perfection.

Only when you own your imperfection, can you truly love yourself for who you are, and truly love your neighbor as yourself.

Be Wise & Successful…

1. Cut yourself some slack. Treat yourself to some self-love. You are who you are, and you’re just as valuable as anyone else on this planet. Identify your strengths and your good stuff and run down your dreams.

2. Cut others some slack. Extend forgiveness and compassion in a generous way. No one has any moral high ground over anyone else. Everyone is the same: Imperfect.

3. Seek help. Admit to your imperfections and seek others that can help you. You are not alone. Seek counseling that will help your soul, your mind, your heart and your body.

4. Always move forward. Having imperfections is not an excuse to sit back and slack-off. You owe it to yourself to be the best you can be. Identify your imperfections and work around them. Leverage your strengths, and always seek to be a loving and positive force in the world.