by Geraldine Cunha-Herbert

Authenticity to me is being my true self, acknowledging all my flaws, insecurities, strengths, weaknesses, beauty and failures. It is the me that I see when I look into the mirror; the me that I see when I close my eyes and search inside.

Then there is perfection, this ideal that often rears its ugly head at us. In reality, perfection doesn’t even exist at all. It is just pressure from the outside world that tells us we are not good enough as we are.

Perfection is a never ending quest to want to be more and more and more instead of simply striving to become who you are purposed to be, so what we end up doing is to try and fit into a mold and become who we perceive society wants us to become.

What that does is drain our inner soul and eventually leads us into a place of never ending dissatisfaction, comparison and treacherous self judgment.

What we fail to realize is that perfection does not build self. It kills self; it break dreams and destroys the essence of who we really are. This strive for perfection has left many of us on perpetual journey to find  “a version of ourselves”  that does not even exist.

Authenticity says you are good enough as you  are presently as you continue to work towards growing into your best self because the seed of growth and improvement is embedded in you.

Perfection on the contrary says you are not good enough as you are because everyone else is doing, going, becoming and you are not. It says you must become better than everyone else and so many of us are left striving to be become the best instead of your best self.

The problem with that philosophy of becoming the best is that we begin  to compete with others, and we often end up competing to become like  everyone else except that which we were created to become.

Always remember that perfection sees you in comparison to others but authenticity looks at me in comparison to your own potential.

Ask yourself what am I striving for? Am I striving for authenticity or perfection?

You are allowed to be a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously! May you never forget this.

Onyinye Udeh