Progress not perfection
I was really struggling to get my bike chain back onto the front gear. Prior to leaving for a 7 week bike tour I PROBABLY should have taken a bike maintenance class, but it was too late now. Stranded on the side of the road, I was gonna have to figure it out on my own. Boy was it MESSY, and it took many, many failed attempts to get the chain untangled. Then more time figuring out how to put it back on correctly. Finally, after a lot of mistakes, I eventually figured it out. I also made sure that I fixed any bike chain that fell off after that until I was a bike chain fixing pro! Since we were on a trip with 2 main bikes and 2 pull along bikes, there was PLENTY of opportunity for this!
Progress
Life is like this, too. Every day we are presented with problems, challenges and events that are going to push us in one way or another. We can WISH or PRETEND that everything is perfect and nothing ever goes wrong, but that is not reality. Life is messy. Mistakes are going to happen. Learn from them and move on. Reframe how you think about mistakes that you make – see them as OPPORTUNITIES to LEARN instead!
Not PErfection
Perfectionism is a trait that looms large inside MANY people’s minds. If you are someone who needs to everything JUST SO, you may not even realize how much unhealthy pressure you are putting on yourself. Do you find that you cannot handle even the smallest error or omission? Is nothing and no one ever good enough for you? Perfectionism may be to blame. The need to be “perfect” will typically seep into every aspect of your life, including your mental wellness. You dont have to live this way, though. Maybe today is the day when you realize that you must move away from perfectionism. If so, bravo! This is one personality trait that is NOT WORTH holding onto.
