The not-so-perfect Perfect Blend

I decided to name my blog ‘The Perfect Blend’ because it is what I strive to do. Life can be so demanding and before you know it you are being stretched in many different directions at the same time.

Can you relate?

While doing some research I looked up the word ‘perfect’, seeing as it is the name of this blog, and according to Merriam-Webster, perfect means “being entirely without fault or defect: flawless: a perfect diamond: satisfying all requirements“

Now I know perfection according to Merriam-Webster is impossible but perhaps we need a new definition of the word. From now on ‘perfect’ means showing up, it means trying your best, and it also means putting in the work. We can be a diamond in the rough, we can set our own requirements so that WE can be satisfied with them.

Listen, friends, we are all on different journeys and we have all experienced life differently but I do know that we have more in common than you think.

In society people expect you to be perfect (the real definition), but who are they to speak? Do they wake up every day in your life? Live out your routines? Experience the emotions you do? NO, THEY DON’T! So do not let that define you, hold you back, or make you feel the opposite of perfect because you are a child of God and you were created in His image, therefore you are already perfect!

I read something on Facebook a few years ago from someone calling themself “redheadhatchet” and took a screenshot of it. It says the following:

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One of my college professors used to say “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly.” I didn’t understand that for years because I didn’t do anything poorly, I couldn’t do anything poorly, I HAD TO DO EVERYTHING PERFECTLY.

But brushing your teeth for 30 seconds is better than not brushing them at all when 2 minutes seem exhausting. Doing 10 minutes of yoga is better than 10 minutes of sitting when doing 30 minutes of cardio seems impossible.

Changing your clothes is good when a whole shower is impossible. Standing on the porch for a few minutes is worth it after being in the house for three straight days because you don’t have the energy to go anywhere.

Anything worth doing is worth doing it poorly… because doing it poorly is better than not doing it at all.

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Can you relate to any of that? I know I can. More often than I would care to admit. BUT, we need to stop being so hard on ourselves.

Living life in 2023 feels like you are trying to juggle everything and it is on fire. It is a lot. So today I want you to sit down, open your notes app, or take out a piece of paper and a pen and write out A REALISTIC definition of perfect for YOU, and come up with even just one ‘habit’ that will help you when you get caught up in your day to day life and you just want to scream.

This is my go-to when it comes to my own definition of ‘perfect’, the one where I am just showing up, trying MY best, and putting in the work, even if it seems so small in comparison to what we see on social media or with the people around us.

So let us set our new go-to habit so that we have a bare minimum that we can achieve and still be happy with our ‘perfect’. These are the two things I try and implement in my life when even showing up feels like a chore.

1. Time Yourself

You have just had a full day of work, you have dishes that you need to pack away, clothes that need to be taken off the washing line and put in the cupboard, the dogs need to be fed, the food heated up and you do not want to do ANY of it. You are tired and all you want to do is sit in front of the TV and binge Netflix. As lovely as that sounds (and I have done it, A LOT) the worse it actually makes you feel because you still have to do those things and probably even more.

Time yourself completing a task, it sounds silly, yes, but hear me out. I usually use my watch but using your phone or a traditional clock/ timer works too. I hit start and begin the task and press stop when I am done. Do you know what I found?

It takes me 3 minutes to pack away the dishes, and less than 10 minutes to take my washing off the line and pack them away. Doing this one seemingly silly habit has helped me achieve something even when doing most things seem just too much.

2. The Two-Minute Rule

This one was a game changer for me and I constantly tell people about it who will listen to me. Similar to my previous go-to except it requires even less effort when it comes to thinking which is perfect when all you want to do is crawl under a blanket and not human anymore.

What takes you less than 2 minutes to do?

You have put water in the kettle and turned it on to boil, in the time it takes for the water to boil you can fold some towels that you washed, take out the chicken from the freezer, look at the pantry, and jot down what you need to buy for the week ahead.

All seemingly small and trivial things that require very little thought yet make such a huge difference when you forget to take out the chicken and you now have nothing to cook and get take out or the towels just sit in the basket for days.

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I am not saying you need to constantly be busy because let’s face it, no one wants to constantly be busy. I yearn for those few minutes to just sit and breathe. What I am saying is regardless of whether we like it or not things need to be done and we cannot escape reality, so instead of sitting and feeling so imperfect because you didn’t do 1000 things rather be proud because you did 3, 3 fewer things that you need to do tomorrow.

I pray that you really read this, and it helped even a little bit. Just remember to redefine perfect for you, so that you can be proud of yourself for just showing up and trying.

God Bless!