Hey friend.

It's hard being a perfectionist, I know. With everything you do in life, you always try to be the very best. You strive to achieve perfect grades. You make it a point to make everyone happy, to be the best role model, to do everything right. You don't want to mess up. Your biggest fear is failure or that you'll never be good enough. The reality of these fears is that the only person you're not good enough for is yourself. Many, many times throughout my life I've been told that I'm my own worst critic. I'm harder on myself than anyone else ever will be. Sometimes, this makes it extremely hard to be happy with yourself.

There's something you need to hear. You're not perfect. No matter how much you want to be, no matter how hard you try to be, you'll never be perfect. And that is perfectly okay.

By definition, perfection is the condition, state, or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects. Sorry Beyoncé, but you're wrong. You're never going to wake up and be #flawless. When it comes to people, flaws are what make us unique. They're what make us beautiful. We're a little rough around the edges, but who said that's not OK? The truth is, life is messy and imperfect, but that's what makes it real. That's what makes you real.

Everyone has their own imperfections. If they say they don't, they're lying. But just because you have issues or flaws, it doesn't mean that you're not worthy. You don't have to be perfect to be beautiful. You don't have to be perfect to be a wonderful person. You don't have to be perfect to do good in the world. God made you just the way you are, and that is always always always good enough. You are His masterpiece. So go out and be yourself. Let your light shine!

Embrace the fact that you talk too much. Love the way you cry at weddings and giraffes and let's be honest, pretty much everything. Laugh it off when you trip and fall because gracefulness is not your forte. Order take out when your Pinterest-inspired dinner looks more like charcoal. Accentuate those freckles on your nose. Don't be afraid to take chances. Make mistakes, and learn from them. Most importantly, love yourself. Really, truly love your perfectly imperfect self.

Love,

The girl who's working on it