“Be the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” (Maya Angelou)
This is one of my all-time favorite quotes. It has helped me to forgive myself for being imperfect in the past, and it has inspired me to live into my future-based “best.” It has also helped me to turn away from perfectionism and toward self-mastery. Perfectionism is unattainable. Self-mastery, well, it’s a journey. And in my definition of self-mastery, there is room to mess up, learn, and try again.
Recently, I cried my heart out to my coach, begging her to help me understand why I felt so down on myself (AGAIN)! She listened patiently and then said, “You’re beating yourself up because you know better, and you don’t think you are doing better.” BINGO! As I have pondered that brilliant, loving guidance from my coach, I have decided to add one more personal sentence to the end of Maya Angelou’s insightful quote:
“And grant yourself grace for the times when you know better and still find it difficult to do better.”
As a recovering perfectionist, I’m learning that we might KNOW what to do, but don’t always DO it, perfectly. It’s okay. Grace makes it possible to keep trying. And that is TRUE self-mastery.
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