The Pnyx: On perfection

Michael McShane
News Editor

I am not a perfect person and you would not believe how long it took me to accept that. 

Perfectionism is, in my opinion, an ugly word. It a word that symbolizes a lie that we try and tell ourselves – that we can be perfect and anything less is unacceptable.  

We all have to live with the little imperfections we are given in life. They may come in the form of a disability or lack of skill in a certain area. 

You could be socially awkward, or a bookworm. You could be interested in something that might be weird to others around you. All of these could affect our perception of how “perfect” we are compared to others. 

Don’t do that! Speaking from experience, never try to compare your life to someone else. The damage that very idea can cause a person is deafening. It can cause self-esteem issues that could never be solved because you can’t suddenly be like another person. Self-esteem issues turn into self-loathing which in turn becomes  

 We shouldn’t strive for perfection because of two reasons. One, it’s unobtainable, the moment you try to perfect yourself you’ve already lost the fight.  

Second, you shouldn’t even try to begin with. I said previously that perfection is an ugly word because the word makes us believe we could be better than what we are. We are not perfect and that is perfectly okay.  

For many years I’ve lived with the idea that I could have had a more perfect life if I was different, or that I didn’t make so many mistakes in the past. That was the wrong outlook and the wrong mindset to have about yourself.  

You shouldn’t shun away the part of you that makes you “not perfect” in the eyes of either yourself or others. 

Self-esteem comes in all shapes and sizes and everyone can have a different idea on what “perfection” means to them, but at the end of the day you are you and that should be enough. It sounds clithe, but saying you’re perfect the way you are is not a false statement and you should believe it when you say it in the mirror.