The Gifts of Imperfection

"The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brene Brown

Fellow perfectionists, READ THIS BOOK!  If you need help letting go of perfection this is a great book to read.  We all need help embracing who we are and to stop being so hard on ourselves.  Kindness to others and ourselves goes a long way.  "Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light."  We can be light in darkness, we first have to be willing to step into that darkness.  "Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better and the world a little braver.  And our world could stand to be a little kinder and braver."  Courage begets courage, in us and in others.  When I am afraid to do something my girls are afraid too.  I'm teaching them courage my doing the things I'm afraid of, not not showing fear but acting despite that fear.  "When we don't practice love with the people we claim to love, it takes a lot out of us.  Incongruent living is exhausting."  So often we treat family worse than we treat strangers.  We need to practice better love to all those around us.  "We don't change, we don't grow, and we don't move forward without the work."  You want to see change, you have to put in the work.  We can't just talk about change, we have to get up and work for the change we want to see.  "Powerlessness is dangerous.  For most of us, the inability to effect change is a desperate feeling.  We need resilience and hope and a spirit that can carry us through the doubt and fear.  We need to believe that we can effect change if we want to live and love with our whole hearts."  Believe in yourself and others, that with God will can make a difference.  "The gremlins are constantly there to make sure that self-expression takes a backseat to self-protection and self-consciousness."  We worry too much about what others think instead of being true to ourselves.  "When we don't give ourselves permission to be free, we are rarely tolerate that freedom in others."  When we give ourselves permission we grant it to others too.  This book takes time to get through, a lot of things to process, but worth the read.