I’m going to depart from my normal post format and talk about life—my (new) viewpoint of life, that is. Okay, I admit, this is another pep talk to myself, made public this time. I just saw Julie & Julia and I have some serious deep thoughts about it. Now what in the world does this have to do with Relief Society/Gospel/LDS anything, you ask? Don’t worry, I firmly believe everything is one eternal round and I can, and will, bring this subject around.
I have always enjoyed Julia Child. Watching her show on TV gave us a very slim (positive) view of her life and I was so happy to see it so happily portrayed in this movie.
Examples we can readily take to heart: She had a sense of humor, She wanted to be productive, She was happy and positive, She loved her husband, She was loved by her husband, She was not deterred, She faced adversity, She was not attractive and she was overly large-yet she went forth boldly and happily. To me, all of that speaks volumes.
In a society such as ours, she proved magnificent.
Another point I saw was she was not a perfectionist (she was competitive), because she was clearly willing to take chances and tread on untried ground. No true perfectionist does that. She carried no safety net around her. What I hate most about the cooks on Food Network is everything they do appears to be “perfect”. “Oh, it came out perfectly.” “The seasoning is perfect.” “It tastes perfect.” All right, already, I might as well give up before I try, because I doubt mine will turn out “perfect”. Never mind, these people have cooked the dish a dozen times already and can redo as many takes as they need to in order to look and cook “perfect” for us.
Life is not perfect. In Julie, we saw the trials and the errors. That was pretty refreshing, actually. And still we saw her successes through it all.
Julia’s true art was in her “joie de vivre”. If you don’t like one way, find another. Do not dwell on what you can’t control. Recognize the love you have around you. Always, always, always be positive. You don’t have to be perfect to be happy. Perfection comes in a whole other life. Stop worrying about it here and now. Make what you can with what you’ve got and be happy.
See, I told you I’d get us around the circle. “Happy is he that condemneth not himself.” (Rom 14:22) “And those who were faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord were delivered at all times” while the wicked suffered all around them, “But behold there never was a happier time among the people.” (Alma 50:22-23) Come judgement time, “he that is happy shall be happy still.” (Mormon 9:14)
Women beat themselves up way too much. We often beat each other up as well. Let’s just be happy. Not perfect; but happy: With our own personal growth, with each other’s growth, with who we are and with what we are able to accomplish. If we are on the right road, then we deserve to be happy. If we are moving forward along that road, we deserve additional happiness.
May I please have a second helping, with a touch of chocolate on the side?
Just started following, wow, thanks for this. I loved and needed it! I’m a perfectionist that needs to chill (smile). I’ll take these thoughts with me.
I just found your blog as I was searching for a specific topic…and got carried away reading some of your thoughts. Thanks for the fun time!
I am a stay at home mother of 7 + 2 (raising 2 oldest grandsons – on a Cattle Ranch in Florida near Orlando) with 13 grandchildren (including the 2 at my house) who mostly live in Utah and California. I’m bookmarking your site so I can come back and visit you again. Thanks, Jan.
What is the point of being a perfectionist with one child or (holy cow!) seven children, let alone just dealing with myself! I might as well commit suicide. *But my journey is much too important* May we all just reach out and help one another. Thanks guys :)!!!