It’s Okay to Get it Wrong and F*ck it Up
The surprising positivity in being imperfect.
You have screwed up before. You chose the wrong toothpaste, an inconsiderate lover, the wrong time to take a trip, the wrong job, and tons of other things both big and small.
Congratulations, you are a human being. Well done. Yet you are constantly being bombarded by messages about perfection, buying “X” to look good, doing “Y” to feel good, and the like, in a way that makes getting it wrong and fucking it up look inexcusable.
Over the past few decades, extremes have gained a lot of traction. The opposite ends are where all the focus goes, even though most things fall somewhere between said extremes. Then, tons of false equivalences get tied to these opposites. If you are this and believe that, you must also be this and that other thing – which have no true connection. A perfect example is how religion, morality, and spirituality are constantly tied together, and people wave their religion like a flag that provides them morality and spirituality – when they couldn’t be more blatantly amoral and materialistic/profane.
It’s easy to lose yourself in the morass of this bullshit. This also makes it seem like you’re imperfect, a fuck-up, unworthy, underserving, and just a bad person when you fail to meet these unreal expectations.
This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth.
You will get it wrong and fuck it up
That’s because you’re only human. And absolutely every single human being – all 8 billion of us – will get it wrong and fuck up from time to time.
The problem is when you get it wrong and fuck it up and think that’s all. The end. Nothing more to do. Move along. Are you still here? Still alive? Then it is not the end and not over.
You get to do it again. Will you do it the same? Do something different? Something new? Will you try something you have done before (successfully or unsuccessfully) or try something completely new and different? Maybe a little from column A and a little from column B?
Or will you give up, give in, roll over, and play dead? Guess what? The choice is yours.
There are lots of forces in the world today that want you to choose their way. Be it politicians, clothing brands, religious/cult/spiritual leaders, or the like – they want you dependent. These forces want you to turn to them to save you – and presently, that tends to cost you all of your money (now or down the line).
But the reality is that the material tends to be unimportant when the day is done. If you have to get from point “A” to point “B”, and you have a reliable, fuel-efficient, fun to drive car, does it really matter if it’s a Hyundai or a BMW and if it’s a new model or an older one?? In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t. It’s about getting from here to there, isn’t it?
Most of the things people truly desire for their lives aren’t material. Everyone I have ever met has desired kindness, compassion, empathy, connection, and genuine love above all else.
The surprising positivity of being imperfect
You are one of 8 billion people on Planet Earth. All 8,000,000,000 people have their own unique perspective of life, the universe, and everything. And – every single one of them, all of us, will get it wrong and fuck it up along the way.
One day, 25 years ago, I decided to walk to the post office to mail out my bills. I thought the exercise would do me good. Yet I have no memory of that day – because I got hit by a car crossing the street a quarter mile from my apartment. I got it wrong – walking wasn’t good for me that day. I fucked up (yeah, I know I didn’t use the crosswalk) and am now made of titanium and have some really wicked scars.
Yup, you can get it wrong and fuck it up in all kinds of ways. And that’s just because you’re imperfect. Perfectly imperfect. And so is everyone else. All 8 billion people, as well as all who came before and all who will follow, are, were, and will be perfectly imperfect.
Imperfection leads to learning things. How do I overcome “X”, learn “Y”, and do “Z”? That’s where the surprising positivity of being imperfect comes into play. Because you have a chance to learn something new and do something different.
Then, what you learn or do could impact someone else for the better. You might help someone else improve their life via your example. And that is huge positivity. Genuine, non-toxic positivity, because it wouldn’t have come into being without negativity, imperfection, and so on.
It’s okay to get it wrong and fuck it up because that can be the key to something new and better. You are empowered to choose to alter your perspective to this approach – or not.
Understanding that it’s okay to get it wrong and fuck it up isn’t hard
It’s all about practicing mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, intentions, and approach to direct your actions.
When you recognize and acknowledge that you’re only human, and everyone gets is wrong and fucks it up along the way, you can make choices and decisions to take new steps and approaches to do it again, move past it, do something new, and the like. Knowing that everyone everywhere is perfectly imperfect, and that the immaterial things you most desire – like kindness, compassion, empathy, connection, and genuine love – are in unending abundance, you can see getting it wrong and fucking it up aren’t the end, but might instead can be a whole new and potential-filled, exciting beginning.
This empowers you, and your empowerment can empower others around you.
Consciously choosing your approach to life towards positivity or negativity – from the vast cylinder that exists between them – shifts life in a way that opens greater dialogue. From that broader dialogue, you can recognize, explore, and share where you are between the extremes and how that impacts you here and now.
Choosing thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions for yourself employs an approach and attitude of positivity for realizing amazing potential and possibilities for your life.
The better aware you are of yourself here and now, the better you can choose and decide what, how, and why your life experiences will be. When you empower yourself, that can spread to those around you for their empowerment.
Thank you for coming along on this journey.
This is the five-hundred-and-seventy-seventh (577) entry of my Positivity series. I hope that these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone. Feel free to share, re-blog, and spread the positivity.
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