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Imperfect Quotes

    “Wabi-sabi is a Japanese concept that shows us the beauty of the fleeting, changeable, and imperfect nature of the world around us. Instead of searching for beauty in perfection, we should look for it in things that are flawed, incomplete. This is why the Japanese palce such value, for example, on an irregular or cracked teacup. Only things that are imperfect, incomplete, and ephemeral can truly be beautiful, because only those things resemble the natural world.”

    Héctor García and Francesc Miralles, Ikigai (Page 172)

      “[The patient] was sure that if he worked hard enough, suffered long enough, or (failing that) at least if he were to be rescued by me, then Nirvana could be his. He can bear his pain for a while if only someday, someway, he will be able to reach a state of blissful perfection, a time when he will have no more conflicts, anxieties, or uncertainties. As I come toppling down off the pedestal on which he has placed me, he is horrified to learn that enlightenment does not provide perfection. Instead, it simply offers the pedestrian possibility of living with the acceptance of imperfection.”

      Sheldon B. Kopp, If You Meet Buddha On The Road, Kill Him! (Page 134)

        “To have a mountain in front of you does not mean you are fundamentally broken in some way. Everything in nature is imperfect, and it is because of that imperfection that growth is possible. If everything existed in uniformity, the gravity that created the stars and planets and everything that we know would not exist. Without breaks, faults, and gaps, nothing could grow and nothing would become. The fact that you are imperfect is not a sign that you have failed; it is a sign that you are human, and more importantly, it is a sign that you still have more potential within you.”

        Brianna Wiest, The Mountain Is You (Page 6)

          “a real sign of progress is when we no longer punish ourselves for our imperfections.”

          Yung Pueblo, Inward (Page 53)

            “Our bodies tell us the truth of life that our minds can deny: that we are in any moment as much about softness as fortitude. Always in need of care and tenderness. Life is fluid, evanescent, evolving in every cell, in every breath. Never perfect. To be alive is by definition messy, always leaning towards disorder and surprise. How we open or close to the reality that we never arrive at safe enduring stasis is the matter, the raw material, of wisdom.”

            Krista Tippett, Becoming Wise (Page 67)

              “More damage is inflicted by people who think they have it all together than by people who have been humbled by the realization that they probably do not.”

              Marianne Williamson, The Shadow Effect (Page 172)

              Alicia Keys Quote on Perfection and Being Okay With Our Imperfect Reality

                “I tend to want every person to embody the best of humanity—for all of us to be givers and builders and dreamers. That’s not reality. At different seasons in life, we each fall into various categories. Even still, every one of us also has a strong behavioral tendency, and that is okay. I’m coming to terms with the fact that so-called perfection—this idea that everything should be beautiful and in order at all times—is just not going to happen.”

                Alicia Keys, More Myself (Page 254)

                Beyond the Quote (Day 386)

                And as she says in her song, Authors of Forever, “Wherever you are, it’s alright / Whoever you are, it’s alright.” It’s okay to be who you are, where you are on your journey. None of us are perfect and we all lead imperfect lives. Expect perfection from someone—anyone—and you’ll always end up disappointed. Expect imperfection and you’ll at least be able to meet people where they are. Disappointment leads to emotional distancing and separation. Understanding leads to emotional advancing and connection.

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                Brandon Stanton Quote on Connection and How We Connect Through Struggles More Than Victories

                  “Our struggles connect us. We relate to the challenges of other people much more than we relate to their victories. We empathize with pain much more than joy. The moment we truly see ourselves in another person is when we realize that we’ve felt the exact same pain.”

                  Brandon Stanton, Humans (Page 278)

                  Beyond the Quote (351/365)

                  This is the oversight with always wanting to show off. It might make people envy you, but it doesn’t allow people to easily connect with you. If anything, it creates a larger disconnect between where they are and where you portray yourself to be. As Brandon points out above, it’s our struggles that connect us, not our victories.

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                  NF Quote from “Only” on Trust

                    “If you made a list of people that you trusted/

                    Would you put your name down?”

                    NF, Only

                    Beyond the Quote (187/365)

                    When I heard this line in NF’s song it stayed with me. It brilliantly orients an issue that so many of us confront on a regular basis—trust. Trust is the foundation of every relationship in our lives. Without trust there cannot be a stable relationship. Just like without a proper foundation there cannot be a stable building. Why is trust so important? Because trust is the key that unlocks and opens a person’s vulnerable side. And until a person is vulnerable and open to another—no true relationship can form.

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                    Jill Churchill Quote on Focusing Less on Perfection and More on Doing Good

                      “There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one.”

                      Jill Churchill

                      Beyond the Quote (128/365)

                      There’s too much pressure on being perfect. Mostly, pressure that we put on ourselves. We want to look perfect—not only in our eyes, but in the eyes of others. We want to act perfectly—to never make a mistake or do something that we might otherwise regret. We want to feel that perfection of inner balance and inner peace—to never lose ourselves emotionally or show any kind of weakness. The problem with this kind of perfection seeking behavior is in how it hinders us more than it helps us.

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                        “We all intend to be perfect but none of us are.  If only we could all see each other as we intended to be, instead of as who we are.” ~ Iain Thomas, Every Word You Cannot Say (Page 148)

                          “Every person is deeply flawed.  Everyone falls short of the glory of God.  If that stark fact meant, however, that we had no responsibility to care, for ourselves as much as others, everyone would be brutally punished all the time.  That would not be good.  That would make the shortcomings of the world, which can make everyone who thinks honestly question the very propriety of the world, worse in every way.  That simply cannot be the proper path forward.” ~ Jordan Peterson, via 12 Rules for Life (Page 62)