It happened. Someone said, "You're perfect".

I'm a perfectionist. It's no secret. In fact, I might as well have it tattooed on my forehead. It has become so easy to get caught up in thinking "I'm not smart enough"or "I'm not thin enough" or... 

Perfectionism has become a front for me and so many others. We have this mentality that if we appear perfect to others, then we must be perfect. If I'm doing twenty different things, and still getting a 4.0, then I must be perfect. Oh and she's an artist on the side? What CAN'T she do? The longer the list of accomplishments gets, the better I feel about myself... right? Wrong. Because I'm not getting any closer to this non-existent, unattainable "perfect". I don't even know what that is. When your goal is something you can't achieve, you end up feeling like a failure. All the time. And it's not a good place to be.

When you add social media into the equation, perfectionism reaches a new, somewhat ridiculous, level. Somewhere along the line, we begin to equate the perfect Instagram feed with the perfect life. You now have the ability to craft this life for the whole world to see. And it can be whatever you want the world to see. You get to hide every imperfection, the ones you can't seem to hide in the real world. The sad thing is that everyone believes it (and I am not excluding myself from this). It's not authentic, but we choose to believe it.

We are creating a culture of perfection. If you are not a fashion blogger, a gourmet chef, a world traveler, a workout enthusiast and have a house that puts everyone else's to shame, then you're not good enough. Oh, and did I mention that you need to have the perfect husband on top of it? The kind that brings you flowers every week, the one that surprises you with elaborate dates, who buys you everything you want, and the kind that merits the hashtag "my husband is better than yours"... the kind that only exists on Instagram. Before you know it, you are measuring your life up against someone else's life. The kind that only exists on Instagram. The fake life that they crafted to show the world; to show you.

In the midst of all this perfection-seeking, one of my professors pulled me aside and gave me a "come to jesus" talk. She gave me some of the best advice I've ever received. She said, "you need to change your mindset. You live with the mindset of "that's good enough", always thinking of ways to be better, do better or achieve some other great accomplishment. That need to change. It needs to be "that's good. ENOUGH!".

To the person who called me perfect... I'm not. And I'm so sick of trying to be.

Here's to change.
Here's to being totally blissfully happy with where I am in life. Right now.
Here's to making mistakes, and being completely ok with them.
Here's to being authentic, with myself and others.
Here's to an A- not being the end of the world.
Here's to measuring my relationship with husband against no one else's.
Here's to getting my validation from MYSELF.

Here's to imperfection, and loving it.