A few years ago, I was in the space of trying to adjust to life after every parent’s worst nightmare. Family, business, responsibilities… how do you live with the unlivable? As I got my feet under me working and leading again I had to find progress, a way to move. I began operating by this phrase:
Possible not perfect.
It was a God-thought in my spirit as I cried out for the “how?” We all know perfection is the enemy of progress, but for some reason it remains our focus. It leads to hustle culture and parent guilt and the comparison trap…it keeps us from what’s possible, from the thing that could move us in the direction of our heart’s desire.
Here’s the difference:
Possible helps us to be present in the moment.
Possible does what it can rather than doing nothing.
Possible lets go of unrealistic expectations and embraces the gifts of imperfection, finding out that imperfection is actually… perfect.
Possible moves the needle, embraces the mess, opens the home anyway, gets on the video call anyway, starts the conversation anyway.
Others may wonder how you can get it so “perfect.” Nah, girl. You’re just doing your possible. Which is way more than anyone who is waiting for it to be or trying to make it be perfect. (See that laundry and unmade bed behind me in the pic? Yep!) Zoom professional is the epitome of this; an un-seen-by-the-camera mullet-statement of possible. “Business up top…”
In this hybrid world of virtual and in-person we have a beautiful opportunity to fit this new breed of possible into our lives. But we cannot focus on perfect or we’ll be suffocated and carry the inadequacies that have always plagued us.
How do we evaluate? Where is our accountability? How do we know when that “istic” and “ism” tendency is tethering us again?
An imperfect action is better than a perfect inaction. Striving for perfect keeps us in inaction.
What has your action been? Ahhhhh, and there’s where we have it. That’s the evaluation. That’s where we find our possible.
(That’s also where we find our faith. There is no faith without steps, even itty bitty teeny tiny possible ones.)
What’s your possible? Don’t wait for things to be perfect or try to make them be perfect. EMBRACE YOUR POSSIBLE.
Do what fits.
AND don’t beat yourself up for what doesn’t.
Who’s joining me in the possible?
(Edited from original Instagram publishing 2.23.22)