Essay: Forgive Yourself For Not Being Perfect. Then Do It Again Tomorrow.

Health & Wellness

Hello, everyone! Here we have a picture of two dogs embracing and the words of Liz Welle. Both are equally comforting. Enjoy. – Kate


Given the state of everything in the world right now, there are really only two things I’m certain of anymore: I will never have a tampon in my purse when I need one, and I am relentless about making myself feel like shit. I would just like to brag for one second. I am excellent at constantly remembering everything I’m bad at and nothing I’m good at. (Does it sound like I’m fishing for compliments? Good, I am. Email them to me.) I am a huge fan at getting stuck in self-wallowing quicksand because thankfully, bless its little heart, anxiety refuses to discriminate and I am a lucky Chosen One. Anxiousness is personally one of my favorite hobbies and if they gave out blue ribbons for it I would have more than that one lady whose blueberry pie wins at your local county fair every year.

Maybe you, like me, are a delicate anxious leaf. Maybe you have an anxious attachment in relationships. Maybe you let insecurity shine through in 90% of your daily actions. Maybe you process things differently than most people and it causes your brain to spin out of control. Maybe you are a disorganized ADD-riddled wreck sometimes. Maybe it’s something else. Whatever it is, babe we just gotta keep on keepin’ on. We’re so quick to berate ourselves like being a human isn’t the hardest job in the world and as though brains aren’t the most complicated things on this planet? Like they aren’t home to millions of wires and neurons and feelings all just chillin? Like they occasionally may not sync up in a way we deem perfect? Wow. Crazy. Who woulda thought? Not me.

So you’re a mess? So what? Me too. So let’s push forward. Everyday. Slip backward. It’s okay. Pick yourself back up. Examine your behavior patterns. Maybe try and not do things that bring you to a really sad place where you want to just lay in bed 26 hours a day and never see anyone’s face again. Eat an orange. Give yourself a pep talk. You are worth daily pep talks. Misery Bay is the name of a city in Michigan that I’m sure is home to very nice people, it is not the name of your brain.

I know this is hard. You’ll get better at it. You’ll get better at not slipping into the trap of not appreciating everything about you that’s magic; the things that no one else has. We’ll one day be as sure of our self-worth as we are that dogs are the greatest thing on the planet. Some days we’ll fall off this little wagon we’re building and traveling on. We’ll get back on. We’ll do better. We’ll forge ahead. We have to. Maybe we’ll have it all figured out by the time our soul leaves our cute bodies but probably not so just make sure you’re being as nice to your heart as possible.

So let’s TRY. In 2017 let’s try to remember regularly (I am not above setting calendar reminders) that it is not an outlandish idea to have your own back. Even when you’re like “Dude, I really don’t like you right now,” (that was you talking to yourself). Then forgive yourself when you screw it all up. Cup your own chin in your hands like those really hot guys do to those really hot girls in Tumblr photos and remind yourself that your spirit is busy growing and it’s going to be a messy trip that might make you queasy sometimes. It’s meant to. Then have some pancakes.

This time of year is incredibly difficult and quite frankly I am having difficulty not seeing the glass half empty from December to April. My brain chooses on bathing in a hot tub of negativity when we have three hours of daylight a day; it’s amazing. Do your best to stay brave, which should be easy considering you are a unicorn. You keep forgetting that but it’s true.

screen-shot-2016-11-29-at-4-21-00-pm
LIZ WELLE IS A PROFESSIONAL FEELINGS FEELER BUT GETS PAID TO DO SOCIAL AND DIGITAL STUFF FOR BRANDS IN MINNEAPOLIS WHILE OCCASIONALLY FOOD STYLING ON THE SIDE. SHE LIVES IN UPTOWN WITH HER BOYFRIEND AND THEIR THIRTEEN PLANTS. SHE IS DOING HER BEST
Image of Liz Welle: Voxland Photo

BY Liz Welle - January 23, 2017

23 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
January 24, 2017 2:26 pm

Love this so much, and not just because there are dogs at the top

– Natalie
http://www.workovereasy.com

January 24, 2017 8:43 pm

This is so incredibly awesome. Funny. True. So “holy crap…that’s me!”.

Progress…most days. I’m putting this page in my bookmarks – I may have to refer to it 1-15x a day.

Thanks! And thought I just found the site…I love it daily now.

Admin
January 25, 2017 12:36 pm
Reply to  Rebecca

I felt the same way when I read it, too!!

KTDO
January 24, 2017 9:37 pm

Thank you for sharing this. So needed. I am definitely a “delicate anxious leaf”, lol! It feels so incredibly good to hear that I’m not alone.

Kate
January 24, 2017 10:12 pm

Thank you for this.

Thank you for sharing this. I can relate so well. And that picture of the two dogs, so adorable!

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

Aisha
January 25, 2017 10:28 am

Thank you for this.

January 26, 2017 5:53 am

Thanks for sharing this kate and the dogs embracing pic is adorable! 🙂
x Germarie
http://www.homeology.co.za

January 26, 2017 12:33 pm

Reading your blog posts is always the highlight of my week, they bring me so much joy! Thank you for keeping such great and relevant content coming our way – it’s like you always know what my heart needs!

January 26, 2017 3:24 pm

I love this message and the way it was written. So real

K
January 26, 2017 4:06 pm

Thank you for this. I’ve been having an anxious couple of hours, and I’ve felt anxiety in my chest for no discernible reason. I’m trying to relax by reading blogs and this helped, thank you.

January 28, 2017 5:41 pm

Oh hi… that’s me too. I feel like women, in general, are way too hard on ourselves. I just find that most of my guy friends never have that self-critical sound track constantly running for some reason. My friend usually jokes that with enough practice we might one day have the self-confidence of a mediocre white male 🙂 . In the meantime, I’ll be trying to go easier on myself one day at a time.

Admin
January 30, 2017 8:28 am
Reply to  Erin Depew

UGH. You are so right.

Jess
February 1, 2017 2:02 pm

What an amazing little nugget for us all! Love, love, love it!!!

[…] Forgive Yourself For Not Being Perfect. Then Do It Again Tomorrow. via Wit + Delight […]

April 22, 2017 11:03 am

I’ve been having an anxious couple of hours, and I’ve felt anxiety in my chest for no discernible reason. http://hoatuoishop.net/danh-muc/hoa-tinh-yeu/ hoa tình yeu

July 17, 2017 10:28 am

This may sound insane BUT I come back and re-read this article on an almost bi-weekly basis. I struggle so much with beating myself up for pretty much everything that doesn’t go exactly as I thought it would but I’m a work in progress and this article reminds me of that when I can’t remind myself.

[…] Forgive Yourself for Not Being Perfect |  witanddelight.com […]

Bani
November 8, 2017 1:10 pm

THANKS A LOT FOR WRITING THIS. Finally a blog that my soul relates too entirely, to each and every word written here. I know I’m going to refer to this essay a lot in the future.

BrunoA
October 4, 2019 9:28 am

This is a great essay! You can find more topics here https://domyhomework.guru/blog/compare-and-contrast-essay-topics

Anastasia Preston
May 1, 2020 8:40 pm

Very Much Enjoyed!
I am a feelings feeler too!

daniel
November 23, 2022 4:11 am

A few days ago I found your site and was pleasantly surprised by how much you have useful and interesting information. It’s a great job to write such useful articles. I think I saw a video about it on https://www.youtube.com/, it’s good that there is such a service

Most-read posts:

Did you know W&D now has a resource library of  Printable Art, Templates, Freebies, and more?

take me there 

Arrow Alone

Get Our Best W&D Resources

for designing a life well-lived

MORE STORIES

Arrow Alone

the latest

Thank you for being here. For being open to enjoying life’s simple pleasures and looking inward to understand yourself, your neighbors, and your fellow humans! I’m looking forward to chatting with you.

Hi, I'm Kate. Welcome to my happy place.

follow  @WITANDDELIGHT

ELSEWHERE

PINTEREST

FACEBOOK

332k

2.9m

16k

INSTAGRAM

CREATE

A LIFE THAT

follow us on instagram @witanddelight_

DELIGHTS