So, I've just finished a book I've been reading entitled Brave, Not Perfect by Reshma Saujani, and I have to tell you that I was sad to have reached the last page. I was sad that my journey with this book was ending. I felt so empowered every time I sat down to read the next chapter. She had such great ideas, my two favorite were to find gratitude after you've fallen, because it's hard to be depressed when you are looking at the things that make you grateful. The second is that no matter what, we should not look at our sisters out there as opponents, but instead to be each others' cheerleaders. I like this because it gets us out of the caddishness mindset and into one of seeing each other as part of a sisterhood, where we share our successes as well as that of our sisters'.
I love the idea of supporting each other and doing our best to all succeed. I'm thinking about this a lot and how it relates to progress, not perfection, a term I have learned from Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm not afraid to admit that I struggle with alcohol. In just a few weeks, on July 7th, I will have 2 years of sobriety and it feels good. It has been a struggle and there were a few times where I've had to hold myself up in my room, for fear of coming out and picking up a drink. In AA we say we claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. And in Brave, Not Perfect the goal is to find our way to bravery as the antidote to striving for perfection. Our culture raises up women to be perfect, when instead we should trade that logic in for one of making the most of the progress we've achieved. We should celebrate our victories, no matter how small they are along the way. Perfection can easily stifle us in so many ways, but for me the most pervasive way is that it stifles my creativity.
I'm a chef of sorts. I currently cook at a nursing home, but with my nonprofit that I started last year, I am the Chef/Executive Director of Purity Arts Center. I've come out as a chef as I prepared the many courses at our first fundraising event. This organization is in the process of receiving its 501c3 status. Once achieved we can then move forward with fundraising events and then the opening of the art center, where people who have mental illness and have been released from jail or prison, can have the opportunity to begin the healing process through art and eventually work in the cafe to learn a skill to use in the community. It is my desire to start with women who fit this criteria. I want them to feel like they are walking into a sisterhood who will support, encourage, guide and bless them as they seek to move past their past and walk into a better future where they become productive members of society. I could talk about this for hours, but right now I'm focused on sharing my experience with letting go of perfection and embracing spiritual progress.
I've started a scripture study focusing on perfection and what the Bible has to say about it. There are scriptures that say "be perfect as I am perfect" or 'that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing'. I am on a mission to learn what that actually means, because the perfection that I know ends in low self-esteem and never measuring up. I don't believe that's the perfection that God is talking about here. So, as I start this quest of knowledge to understand this important subject, I would love for you to share your thoughts, what you've learned and how you've experienced freedom in understanding what it really means to be perfect. So far, the word that shows up in the Greek for perfect is Teleious, meaning complete, which makes me think of the word 'whole'. I think I can wrap my head around that much easier. God desires wholeness for us and I'll stop with that. I will share more as I uncover it, but for now I say goodnight and if you have the chance, check out Brave, Not Perfect. You won't be disappointed.
I love the idea of supporting each other and doing our best to all succeed. I'm thinking about this a lot and how it relates to progress, not perfection, a term I have learned from Alcoholics Anonymous. I'm not afraid to admit that I struggle with alcohol. In just a few weeks, on July 7th, I will have 2 years of sobriety and it feels good. It has been a struggle and there were a few times where I've had to hold myself up in my room, for fear of coming out and picking up a drink. In AA we say we claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection. And in Brave, Not Perfect the goal is to find our way to bravery as the antidote to striving for perfection. Our culture raises up women to be perfect, when instead we should trade that logic in for one of making the most of the progress we've achieved. We should celebrate our victories, no matter how small they are along the way. Perfection can easily stifle us in so many ways, but for me the most pervasive way is that it stifles my creativity.
I'm a chef of sorts. I currently cook at a nursing home, but with my nonprofit that I started last year, I am the Chef/Executive Director of Purity Arts Center. I've come out as a chef as I prepared the many courses at our first fundraising event. This organization is in the process of receiving its 501c3 status. Once achieved we can then move forward with fundraising events and then the opening of the art center, where people who have mental illness and have been released from jail or prison, can have the opportunity to begin the healing process through art and eventually work in the cafe to learn a skill to use in the community. It is my desire to start with women who fit this criteria. I want them to feel like they are walking into a sisterhood who will support, encourage, guide and bless them as they seek to move past their past and walk into a better future where they become productive members of society. I could talk about this for hours, but right now I'm focused on sharing my experience with letting go of perfection and embracing spiritual progress.
I've started a scripture study focusing on perfection and what the Bible has to say about it. There are scriptures that say "be perfect as I am perfect" or 'that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing'. I am on a mission to learn what that actually means, because the perfection that I know ends in low self-esteem and never measuring up. I don't believe that's the perfection that God is talking about here. So, as I start this quest of knowledge to understand this important subject, I would love for you to share your thoughts, what you've learned and how you've experienced freedom in understanding what it really means to be perfect. So far, the word that shows up in the Greek for perfect is Teleious, meaning complete, which makes me think of the word 'whole'. I think I can wrap my head around that much easier. God desires wholeness for us and I'll stop with that. I will share more as I uncover it, but for now I say goodnight and if you have the chance, check out Brave, Not Perfect. You won't be disappointed.
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