You're Not Perfect (Neither am I)

News flash, you’re not perfect.

“Ouch. Really, Erin?”

I don’t tell you this to be mean, I remind you of this fact to set you free. Since you aren’t perfect, you don’t have to be perfect. It’s okay for you to have a bad day, or a bad week. It’s not okay for you to treat other people poorly because of it.

It’s okay for you to not be everything to everyone, but it is important that you take care of yourself so that you can also take care of the others that you elect to allow into your priority circle. That might mean that your make your husband and your kids your priority, but Tammy from the office will have to pick up the monthly birthday cake herself (or get someone else to do it).

You’re not perfect, and you can’t do everything.  This is something I’ve been telling myself on repeat over the last few weeks.

I have a confession to make. This last year has been hard. I’ve been doing my best to keep my energy up and continue being my positive/motivational self but it’s been really hard. Like really, really hard.

You see, it’s hard to encourage people to create healthy nourishing food at home when I am currently completely disgusted by my current cooking area.

It’s hard for me to continue to share my love for the environment and how simple it is to do little things like using reusable dishes and flatware when the idea of washing one more dish in my basement sink makes me want to cry.

It’s hard for me to encourage people to do the right things and communicate in their relationships when there are times when I don’t even want to talk to some of the important people in my life.

It’s hard for me to encourage you to love yourself. To love your body and your whole being just the way you are when my mental critic has been louder than ever.

It’s hard for me to encourage people to stick with their fitness and nutrition when I know myself I have gained body fat and I find myself whispering to a pair of jeans before I put them on “please fit”. “Oh please, please fit”.

I don’t say think any of these things because I want you to feel sorry for me. I say them, because I want you to know I’m real person too. I’m a real person who sometimes feels like a fraud encouraging you to do things I really believe in (eating well, moving and working out, developing lasting relationships, and practicing self-love and self-care) when I don’t think I’m role-modeling them well.

And then I stop myself to point out to myself what I point out to you on a regular basis. This is a season. And I’ll get through it.

I haven’t had a kitchen in nine months. Considering that I’m keeping my husband and myself not only fed, but fed well and (mostly) nutritiously via a crockpot and single burner unit on my folding table in the basement, I suppose a few extra pounds of body fat isn’t that significant in the long run.

In the last nine months I’ve been working from a folding table in the basement instead of my big, lovely desk in our office. Seeing the chaos of our home packed up in front of me as I attempt to write and come up with creative ways to challenge my clients, students and readers isn’t exactly the most conducive environment for my best work. And yet, I’ve continued to put out at least one blog a week (on Thursdays!), though I’ve struggled to maintain much social media presence.

On the other hand, in the last nine months I have mostly stuck to my workout routine, and I’ve found that I am getting better at giving myself grace when it comes to missing a workout. I can now easily give myself grace for missing one workout a week (this is a BIG DEAL). When I miss two, it’s harder, but I’ve found it possible. Now, that being said, please don’t hear this as a “get out of workouts free” card for you. I start each week with 8 planned workouts. So even missing 2 means I have 6 throughout the week. Do I think you need to do 6-8 workouts each week? Absolutely not. I’ve just found that at this point in my life getting a good combination of strength training, high-intensity cardio, and mobility/recovery workouts means that 6-8 is a good number for me. Your “right” number will be different than mine, just like your workouts are different than mine. (I suppose this is a great time to remind you that helping people figure out their best plans is what I do. If you want to work with me, in person or online send me an email to schedule an assessment).

Everything came to a head a couple weeks ago when the winds of change started blowing through the company I contract with. And I realized and remembered, I can’t do everything, and I’m not perfect.

So I’m going to ask you to bear with me over the next two months as things may get a little rocky before they smooth out again. Because one thing I know is that people are more willing to give us grace and forgive our imperfections when we stop acting like we’re perfect and can do anything.

Friends, I am not perfect, so please bear with me. I may miss a week or two of blogging (I’ll try not to!), or my blogs may not be as well planned and thought out… but I’ll be back, with all the great resources I’ve always had, and more!