Perfection is an Illusion

I’ve lived 14 years and have had many experiences and learned many things, a lot of which can’t completely be subjected to words. However, a big lesson I’ve picked up on lately is how nothing will ever be perfect.

In the society we live in, there are a lot of unrealistic, “perfect” stereotypes. But things are constantly changing and so is the picture of “perfect” in everyone’s eyes. That person you saw online or at school or work who is living your dream with a perfect appearance and a perfect job and perfect friends and a perfect life most likely isn’t experiencing perfection. That person might not actually enjoy their appearance and is constantly striving to change things about themselves. They might hate their job and struggle to find the energy to get out of bed and go to work in the morning. Their friends might argue and complain about each other behind their backs. No one wants to show others the bad stuff in their lives, and this creates the illusion of perfection. They’re not really living a perfect life.

For me, I love to run and sing. I might see someone running on the trail, going super fast looking like they must have been running for their whole lives and think, “Wow, that shows a lot of dedication and strength”. But maybe they’re thinking, “I can’t afford to lose another race.” Or perhaps that singer who has been amazingly successful in life and has millions of dollars and millions of fans who adore them, can’t handle the stress of the industry any longer.

There are things people don’t want others to see in fear of judgment or scrutiny, and this creates the illusion of perfection.

What I’m trying to say here is that there will always be someone who is trying to be a different “perfect” than they already are. Striving for perfection will lead you in circles and squares and octagons but will never be an attainable goal. They say “practice makes perfect,” but practice makes progress. The difference between the two is that progress is a constant, and perfection is an illusion. This lesson could be implemented into so many different situations and examples and has been for me.

I’ve recently been trying to teach myself to accept imperfection and learn that comparison and judgement aren’t the right way to gauge what is good and what isn’t. It’s difficult for me to see the people around me struggle with lack of perfection and doubt themselves and how they look and act. Especially as a teenage girl (but also as a teenage boy and other teenage people), it’s so hard to feel good about yourself when it seems like someone else fits the perfect, unrealistic stereotypes that have been formed over many, many years of unrealistic expectations. Hearing someone talk about their beautiful body in a bad way hurts my heart, especially when it’s a friend or someone I know. So, I hope I can continue accepting and bettering myself and helping others to do the same, loving our whole selves and all other beings around us, always. Progress and change are better things to recognize than this illusion of perfection that invades many minds. Success is not reaching perfection, it is continuing to grow, change, and learn, and do the best one can every day.

Roxie Nichols

Roxie Nichols (daughter of Inspire(d)’s Aryn and Benji) is an eighth-grader at Decorah Middle School. She enjoys spending time with friends and being outside camping and hiking.

We created Future Focused, a regular Inspire(d) column written by pre-teens and teens, to help give the next generation an opportunity to share their voices. During the school year, we partner with Dana Hogan, the Extended Learning Program teacher at Decorah Middle School, for student submissions. For the Fall Inspire(d), our daughter, Roxie, writes a piece. You can read all the Future Focused pieces published so far at iloveinspired.com/category/future-focused. Here’s to Listening to the Next Generation! – Aryn

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