Dear PiePie,
I find that, often, what causes a lot of mental angst or psychological stress is when we are not able to live up to the version of ourselves that we believe we should be, whether this image of perfection was self-imposed or influenced by the external world.
And this letter isn’t to tell you what the perfect version of yourself should be, or to instruct you on how to get there.
It’s simply to suggest that this journey to the ideal image of yourself is exactly that, a journey. And it’s a lifelong journey. It’s ok that you are not quite there yet, and perhaps never will be.
Embrace that imperfection even as you strive, just a little every day, to move closer to that version of yourself you wish to be.
Sometimes we are trapped in a mental loop of self-loathing, that we procrastinate or are quick to anger or care about what others think of us. Accepting that you are flawed takes power away from those flaws. Tell yourself that how you feel/act is an understandable response to the situations you are facing, even if you might not like to have felt/acted in that way.
It might help to converse with that voice within: “I care too much about others’ opinions of me, and that’s ok. It makes sense that I care a lot about their opinions, but let’s work on being less bothered by them.”
Hopefully, this might come in handy should you ever feel inadequate. I fear that this letter might eventually be used against me if you fully embrace your flaws with no intention of changing. But I suppose, if you can’t be contentedly working on improving yourself, I’d rather that you are happily flawed than unhappily striving towards perfection.
Love, Dad