The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is
giving up on being perfect and
beginning the work of becoming yourself.
No one could put down Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson in my family. Instead of starting with Chapter 1, my 12 year old went straight for the section on the thing dearest to his heart: the iPad. My mom wanted a quick turn to read about the childhood that spurred outstanding success (–and an early demise, Ma!) I read bits and pieces amidst all this passing around while my husband, who rarely reads anything outside of work, finished the 630 pages in a week!
Steve Jobs’ story is about persisting towards perfection. My 2012 resolutions lean more towards loving my imperfections:
1. I will see my fabulousness. A girlfriend in her 40s drove home this lesson when she confided that the sight of her teen daughter’s amazing body (an exact replica of her own two decades ago) makes her wonder “What the heck was I complaining about?”
2. I will speak to support trust in our own wisdom and the possibility that life is an adventure of learning from our choices, not avoiding mistakes and failures.
3. I will listen for praise and appreciation though critics and know-it-alls tend to have louder voices.
4. I will resist the urge to rip off the little hair left on my husband’s head when he insists on an extended search for the perfect sofa. Surely being married to someone with high standards can only mean that I am perfect! 😉
Malcolm Gladwell‘s article “The Tweaker” sums up “how effectively Steve put his idiosyncrasies—his petulance, his narcissism, and his rudeness—in the service of perfection” in the New Yorker.
How are you already perfect with your imperfections?
© Sharon Birke
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