Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien.
Voltaire
In case you don’t know French, Voltaire wrote that the perfect is the enemy of the good. I was talking to a work client yesterday who is dealing with some intense anxiety over sharing some of her writing. What makes that interesting and that the reason I asked to see it was because she expressed interest in being a writer and asked for my help and advice.
When I questioned her about it, she told me that she felt like the work she wanted me to read wasn’t ‘perfect’ yet. I asked her to share something else instead, and she became flustered. It turned out that she is paralyzed with fear over being judged for her writing – the very thing that she wants to do as a vocation.
Are you hiding what you bring to the table out of the fear that it isn’t perfect?
Are you scared of being judged for not being as perfect as someone else?
Perfection is overrated and exhausting. It’s okay to accept and love yourself as you are while still accepting and recognizing areas in which you can improve. Your truth – the parts of you that the world needs most – lies in the imperfections that set you apart and make you you.
Never forget that I love you, and that excludes no one.
Love,
