The Perfection in Imperfection
I don't understand this strive towards perfect - this omnipresent desire to be perfect and flawless in every regard, whether that be appearance, wealth, grades, status, etc. Once I was a part of that mindset too, always striving to be 100%, 4.0, 2400, well off, worry free, whatever it was that was my goal. Maybe it was naivete, maybe it was hope, or maybe it was the expectations that society set for us since an early age. But it's gone.
Perfection is not what I thought it was. Perfection is present in imperfection itself. The fact that I am imperfect makes me all the more amazing and interesting. At this point it sounds as though I'm bragging about myself right? I'm so amazing, right? (flips hair) But that's not it - at all. This is me finding refuge in the thought that I don't need a 4.0 or a 2400 to be the best form of myself. Since 7th grade I've had this idea ingrained into my head that I needed to be absolutely spotless to be remotely anything, but as the final year of high school approaches at an alarming rate, I've never felt more of a change of heart than I do now. Valedictorian? A perfect SAT/ACT score? They'd be nice, but they don't define me and even if I had them, I wouldn't be perfect. They are statistics and they are numbers but they will never define me nor will I let them because I am more than a couple hours in a testing room and I am more than the grades that my hormone-raged self achieved in high school. I am 16 years old and I have lived less than a fifth of my life. It's not over yet and yes I will commit hundreds of flaws along the way but that's the beauty of it - the beauty of not knowing and finding a way to love my imperfect self.