Because I’m So Perfect

I want you all to know something. I’m so perfect!

Okay… I can’t even start that sentence without gagging a little bit. Let me start over, this is not a post saying how perfect I am. This is a post where I share my imperfections with you. Where I share how imperfect I am. It’s where I open up and tell you things that I’m not good at. Some of them are in my own health journey. GASP! Can a chiropractor who studies health as a job tell you where they are weak in their own health journey? I’m going to say YES. Because the thing I don’t want to happen is for you to think I’m perfect. I also don’t want you to think the things I write about are something you can’t achieve. Trust me, I’m not sitting behind my computer eating the perfect balanced snack while doing squats and living a stress free life. Oh please, I’m just as human as you are.

One thing I want to be very clear on is that we are all imperfect people living in this very imperfect world. The only perfect person is God. He created you and wove you together in your mother’s womb. You are special, you are loved, you are deeply valued. But you aren’t perfect. And that is ok! The more we understand that, the more we can give ourselves grace. We can extend ourselves and our chasing perfect (thanks Lara Casey for this term) mindset a break. You were created for a purpose and it is good to do our best.

But perfect? That’s a loosing battle.
I’m so NOT perfect! Now that’s the truth!

Here are some things I’m not good at:

1. Consistent Scheduled Exercise

Yep, I’m no gym rat. Oh there were days I wanted to be. I wanted the 6 pack abs, the ripped arms and something that resembled muscular quads. But guess what? Those things are not achievable for me. And I learned to be ok with it. But my lesson wasn’t without a battle. Those fitness magazines don’t contain real life people. They are full of people who’s jobs are fitness. And a lot of them are good at their jobs too. I guess airbrushing and re-shaping doesn’t hurt either. These magazines don’t represent real people!

I’ve gotten off track! We were talking about how I’m not the best at exercise.

I had a membership to the gym. I think I went 10x this year. Now that doesn’t mean I never work out. I stream my workouts from Suzanne Bowen Fitness. (And I could and will write a whole post on how much I love Suzanne). I move my body about 2-4x/week for 10-40 minutes each. It’s nothing to write home about but it’s something. And that something is where I’m at right now and something that I choose to be happy about. I don’t do well with intense and long workouts. My body starts to break down and can’t recover. I choose a type of exercise that is more gentle on my body. It works for me. I want you to appreciate any type of fitness that you do in your week.

By the way, in 2015 I cancelled my gym membership.

2. My Diet isn’t Perfect

Oh do I wish I was perfect at this. If you’ve read my health story you know that I have had to do some pretty drastic things for my health, one of them was changing how I eat. My body had seasons where I couldn’t eat eggs, nuts, dairy, starches, fruits and had to cut those out. I’ve done some pretty crazy food things. I had to for my health. I now eat grain-free and refined sugar free. That’s my “label”, if you could give a diet a label. I eat this way to the best of my ability because it makes me feel the best and I work at my best. When I say I am refined sugar free, that means 90% of the time. When I was “dairy free” I just couldn’t quite give up my heavy cream all the time.

I eat chocolate, eat things at restaurants with “bad fats” and have bites of things that’s not on my “diet”. That happens mostly if I’m on the road, at a party and not at home. There have been times where I just break down and have one of my grain free dessert for breakfast and lunch. That’s not the definition of a balanced diet. Real food made me feel sick for so long so anything I ate, healthy or not, gave me a stomach ache. Anything seemed like poison in my body. Sometimes I rebelled.

3. I get discouraged

When you’re sick for nearly 10 years it makes for some discouraging times. Sometimes the discouragement came in waves that would hang with me like a cloud throughout my days. I had other times where I could snap out of it. There were times I went to the Lord with my discouragement and other times all I could do was just get up for the day. Now, I want to tell you that being sick that long, there’s no way to always remain positive. Nor do I think we are expected to. Times of suffering (whether in our health or not) open up the ability for us to reach out to God! Allow Him to comfort you in your struggle. He is there for you!

Here are some of my favorite comfort giving Bible verses. These are some of my life verses.  

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. -Galatians 6:9

And I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten. -Joel 2:25

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. Romans 5:3-4

Now, here’s the truth. I study a lot. I am a seeker of truth and I make health my hobby and my job. I was sick myself. I walked through some tough times with my health so I got educated in the school of life. I love learning, I love teaching, I love sharing my health knowledge. I have learned a ton along the way. But I’ve not arrived. And trust me, you can’t arrive. You don’t get to arrive in life and you also can’t arrive in health.

Keep learning! Keep growing! Rejoice in your imperfections. And realize once and for all it’s ok not to be perfect!