Thin Thoughts: Perfection in Nature and You

Today's Quote:

"In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they’re still beautiful." - Alice Walker 

Modern day society has become obsessed with "perfect" bodies. If you're not super-skinny, buff, ripped (insert the "in" description of the day) - then you are deemed unacceptable or "not good enough".

Many of us have spent years torturing ourselves to try to fit into these societal ideals of bodily perfection. We have starved, purged, belittled and punished ourselves with the hope that we can finally force our bodies to become perfect.

Of all the species on this planet, human beings are the only ones who do this. We are the only ones who look at others and compare ourselves to them - and try to adjust our appearance to be more like them. (Funnily enough, those people we are trying to look like are also looking at other apparently perfect people and trying to be more like THEM!)

As Alice Walker says in her quote above, in nature, nothing is perfect and yet, everything is perfect. Plants and animals do what nature engineered them to do - grow and thrive for as long as possible.

What if we were to start doing the same thing? What if we were to stop comparing ourselves to others, stop trying to be like others, stop trying to measure up to impossible ideals of "skinny-ness" and instead just focus on thriving?

What if we stopped seeing our bodies as imperfect and started marveling at their beauty?

That doesn't mean we can't still work on improving ourselves, of course. But we should be focused on improving ourselves from a mind-set of love and compassion rather than hatred and punishment.

It would mean the difference between saying, "I love myself exactly as I am, and I know I can become even more beautiful" and "I hate myself and I'm not going to love my body until it is perfect."

Hatred NEVER creates beauty and perfection - it can only create more hatred.

Love ALWAYS creates beauty and perfection - and even more things to love.

The next time you see a bent and twisted tree, an animal with unusual markings, or a bright flower blooming in a dry, barren field, remember that these life forms are displaying their own innate perfection. They are thriving and being exactly who they were meant to be, and you should be doing the same.