Saturday, 25 February 2012

A perfect start?


So I have been thinking of starting a blog for a while and I have finally gotten round to it. I actually got round to it a while back but instead of posting something, my perfectionist self has been doing research on how to make my blog the best it can be. So I have looked at all the templates and tried out most of the fonts, then I have thought of numerous topics to write about and witty phrases to include. As I was doing all this, time was whiling away (as it always does when I put on my Miss Perfect costume ) and then it hit me. My wanting to be perfect was preventing me from doing what I set out to do; write.
This is me in my Simply Me costume, trying to ignore the "wear me" pleas of the Miss Perfect costume. And just so that the next time am in my 'perfectionist' world I do not stay there too long, I compiled(read 'looked up with Google then copy pasted) a list of quotes on perfectionism and its imperfections:
  •  A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.  ~John Henry Newman  (I totally agree)
  • No one is perfect... that's why pencils have erasers.  ~Author Unknown  (Someone please tell me where to find mine.)
  • Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.  ~William Safire  (Unfortunately, mine isn't)
  • Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.  ~Henry van Dyke (Aaaw, totally agree.)
  • Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.  ~Confucius, Analects  (Precisely!)
  • Bachelors' wives and old maids' children are always perfect.  ~Nicholas Chamfort (Ohoho, I like this one)
  • Even the best needles are not sharp at both ends.  ~Chinese Proverb
  • The human story does not always unfold like a mathematical calculation on the principle that two and two make four.  Sometimes in life they make five or minus three; and sometimes the blackboard topples down in the middle of the sum and leaves the class in disorder and the pedagogue with a black eye.  ~Winston Churchill
And for the times when I feel that I need to do perfect things in the hope that that will make me a perfect Christian, I will think of these words:
"...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24) 

"I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?... Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?" (Galatians 3:2-3,5)

Those time that I feel like I need to redeem myself by my works:
"Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5). 

Of course, now and then, I will try to do stuff in the most perfect way and I think that is ok. It is when my desire for perfection takes over and leaves me out of control that I will need to remind myself that a world of perfect shapes would be rather dull (hehe). God knows me inside out. Trying to shut Him out as I try to get my ducks in a row(or a perfect circle) will only weigh me down. Instead, I should let Him in to help me grow in His Perfect will.