I celebrated my 21st birthday last week/weekend, and so many emotions came flooding in. I thought it would be a good idea to write a blog post about this so… here we are. Welcome to Chapter 21: Progression over Perfection.
Dear 21, as you crept up on me, so many thoughts came flooding to mind. The age of 21 means so many things to so many different people and lately, I’ve been wrestling with what it meant to me. For the past 20 years, I’ve put so much pressure on myself to be perfect. The urge to reach perfection has left me exhausted, disappointed, and empty. It wasn’t until I started this blog and embraced the concept of transparency that my feelings started to change. Focusing on transparency enriched my life by reminding me the Lord isn’t looking for perfection and neither are the people around me.
That said, I want 21 to be the year I walk more in transparency not only for all of you but for my relationship with God. There are so many more experiences I’ve felt called to share, but the need to convey perfection has stood in the way. I believe as I’m continuing to grow in my walk with the Lord, transparency is the next step. One of my favorite pastors sums up the need for transparency perfectly. He says, “God can’t bless who we pretend to be,” and he's so right! The Lord already knows everything about us, and He wants to heal us from past mistakes, shame, and traumas. But, He can’t do that if we conceal them. God has taken me through some tough situations for a purpose; for the birth of Gracefully Broken. As I turn 21, I’m realizing how impactful my stories are and if I’m going to emphasize transparency in my blog posts, it needs to be reflected in my real life.
In chapter 21, I’m choosing progression over perfection. I rather make mistakes while making progress in my relationship, friendships, family, education, and professional life than try to achieve perfection and never get anywhere. I want to apply for internships that are completely out of my comfort zone and encourage tough conversations in all of my relationships, but that starts with letting go of the image of perfection. I still have so much to learn and work on in my life and at 21 I feel ready to be intentional about it. Whether that’s through stepping out on faith when fear is pulling at me or reading books to learn about areas I struggle in, I want to progress.
More importantly, I want to share my experience with progression with you guys! Gracefully Broken has impacted my life so much and I’m so thankful I trusted God and launched this in the height of quarantine. That means I’ll be creating different content for my blog and announcing a new project on its one year anniversary! As the momentum from this weekend dwindles, I wanted to take the time to thank you all for walking with me throughout this journey. Cheers to 21 and I’m looking forward to seeing what it brings!
Xoxo,
Girl with Grace