Messy Perfection

per·fect

adjective

ˈpərfikt’

having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it is possible to be.

This morning my dad and I were talking in the kitchen and he was sharing with me how he loved his childhood even though it was in a third world country, El Salvador. To him being able to walk down dirt roads to a lake on the weekends with his brothers to go fishing and swimming was perfect. Being able to ride a horse and stop to climb a mango tree whenever he got hungry was perfect for him even though he would fall sometimes (Heheheh xD). That whole relaxed life is what he considers perfect.

http://gringainelsalvador.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cowcrossing_2.jpg

(A place called Agua Caliente in El Salvador. Heheh that’s not my dad by the way. There’s just a bunch of pretty cows in El Salvador.)

Anyway, that whole conversation my dad and I had about perfection got me thinking about how perfection is something different for every person. As teens I feel like we try to be a perfect with perfect grades, perfect looks, perfect relationships, and perfect ways of being and doing things. Sometimes we see people in TV, movies, or magazines and we try to be like that. What I like though is that as teens we try to reach those levels of perfection while knowing we won’t always get there, but we’re still happy with where we do get. Being a teen in general can be pretty messy as we scramble to be extraordinary, but we still have those moments of curiosity where we try to see just how perfectly we can do things. For example, you see thoseNeutrogena commercials where the girl gracefully splashes water on her face and *poof* all clean. I’m pretty sure most of us have tried to reenact that but just end up burning our eyes (or at least I hope I’m not the only one who has tried heh).

http://www.funny-memes.org/2011/08/going-to-wash-my-face-like-on-tv.html

So whatever may be “perfect” for you, just remember that you already are perfect. ❤

-Lizzie Manzano