First off, terrible advice. Don’t take it. I take it all too often.

A few things follow…

For starters, I don’t write in my blog for months. Apparently that thing they say about blogs failing within the first 6 months is true. It’s funny.  I was so determined not to let that happen.  And then, all of a sudden it did. Whoops!

Well, here I am again.  I have been writing.  Writing for school, and writing for fun.  Fiction mostly.  I journal some.  I’m not sure what happened.  Not sure why I stopped blogging.  I think it was mostly self-imposed pressure.  That is usually what makes me give up at most things in my life.

If I can’t do it perfectly, I might as well not do it at all!

That has been a motto in my life.  An old idea that has been so deeply ingrained, it is very difficult to let it go. 

I remember…

When I was a kid, I was rather heavy.  I was nicknamed the 1,000 lb cow.  Full disclosure, I did not weigh 1,000 lbs BUT my affinity for cows was rather unfortunate in my situation.  Anyways. So, there I was, an awkward and clumsy chunky monkey… doing what?  Learning how to waterski. Yay! What could possibly go wrong? 

I mean, I was wearing a swimming suit…so that was a good start. All chubby kids love wearing swimsuits.  And also I was with my very athletic and talented cousin who seemed to be able to pick up anything within minutes of her trying it.  And we were with her parents, my Aunt and Uncle who always asked me at meals if I “really needed seconds.” So as you can imagine, my confidence in myself was at an all-time high.

Ah yes, I do well remember that day.  I remember most of my failures with vivid clarity.   I remember that there was a pair of waterskis that were tied together for beginners.  I remember trying to get up and the rope whipping out of my hand.  I remember attempting to laugh it off and try again, and falling. Again and again. I remember my little arms quavering and the slap of the water like a slap of remonstrance. I remember encouragement from my uncle that felt like ridicule. I remember shame creeping over me.  A voice saying “Your fat-ass is never going to get it.”  And then I remember crying.  I’m not sure if I did or not.  All I know is that I have never tried waterskiing again because “it’s stupid.”

Haha! Yes. The ultimate solution. I’m not saying that I have any particular desire t o waterski, but that situation is just one illustration of me not executing something perfectly and giving up.  I don’t know how I missed Thomas the Train Engine’s sage advice “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”  Maybe I thought he meant only try two more times, and then give up.  Whatever the reason, I am beginning to realize that no one is perfect. And I can’t just give up all the time.

No one does everything perfectly all the time. In fact, few people do anything perfectly any of the time.

I mean, no shit!?  Really Anne, you’re 29 years old and you just realized that.  Yup. I know.  It’s sad.  Well, anyway, all success is built upon failure, and learning to improve.  And I think learning to accept imperfection as part of life is something that I must do.  Not everything I do is going to be graceful and elegant.  Not everything I write is going to be beautiful.  Not everything I say is going to make sense.  And not every idea I have is going to pan out.  But that’s okay!

And it’s okay for you too. You don’t have to be perfect. Just don’t give up.

In case you have forgotten Thomas the Train Engine’s advice, I am here to remind you, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again…ad infinitum” (That means don’t stop. Unless you can really tell that it’s not meant to be, which is a totally different case and maybe I’ll write about that some day).