Embracing Flaws

Today’s post is very different from the usual, but it’s a topic that I have wanted to shed some light on for awhile.  I came across this quote on Pinterest last night and it was a little reminder for me to finally write about it.  

I am not perfect.  You are not perfect.  No one is perfect.  That’s the truth.  We all have flaws and they make us who we are.  Like the quote above says, perfection is uninteresting.  It is not realistic.  I don’t know what it is about social media and the internet in general that makes so many of us feel like we need to portray this perfect image all of the time.  That is just not how life is.  All of my life, I have had my own insecurities that I have tried to work through.  For awhile, I would be extremely hard on myself about things. My friends would tell me that I was my own worst enemy. It made me take a step back and ask, “Why?  Why do you do this to yourself?”  On some level, I think I was doing it to protect myself.  I felt like if I pointed out my flaws to myself before anyone else did then it would hurt less when someone brought my imperfections to the light.  I just cared too much. 

I have been on this new personal journey and it’s been very eye opening for me.  It’s really made me see myself in a new light.  So many times we only see what is wrong about us instead of what is right.

We put ourselves down way too often and pick ourselves apart.  And then, we put a filter on it when what we really need to do is embrace who we are. Why are we so afraid of showing our flaws when every single person has them too?  If there is one thing that we all have in common it is that none of us are perfect.  I recently took a photo of a friend and she pointed out at least 3 things that she didn’t like about herself in the picture.  I looked back at the photo and seriously did not notice any of those things that she pointed out.  I felt like we were looking at two completely different photos.  I said to her, “You have to stop.  You look gorgeous.  You ARE gorgeous.”  But then I realized that this is how I have been for so much of my life.  Overanalyzing every flawed detail that probably wasn’t even noticed by anyone else.  And even if it was, so what.  

If you haven’t noticed by now, I have really bad posture.  I’ve had scoliosis since high school and this has been a huge insecurity of mine for many years.  People used to make fun of me and call me crooked.  Sometimes you can’t see it, but other times it’s very noticeable.  It sucks, but it could be worse.  Two of my bottom teeth are chipped.  Sometimes when I smile, my gums show because my teeth are small.  I have psoriasis that comes and goes, but when it comes, it gets really bad, especially on my legs.  My vision is horrible.  Without contacts or glasses, I cannot see a single thing.   Sometimes the bags under my eyes are so deep, it looks like I haven’t slept in weeks.  I mean, this may all sound stupid or irrelevant, but these are some of my physical flaws and some of the insecurities that I have had and I don’t want to hide behind them.  If I had perfect posture with perfect teeth and perfect skin and perfect vision and the perfect body, would I even be interesting?  Probably not. 

 The purpose of this post is to let you see more of who I am.  If you have been down on yourself or if you have your own personal insecurities, I hope that you were able to relate to this post in some way.  I hope that you can learn to see yourself in a brighter light and know that despite whatever imperfections you have, you are still beautiful.  We are all flawed and that is ok.  <3