Do you believe you are perfect just the way you are? I do.

At least I try to remember that I am, and that you are, and that together we all are.

Why do we spend so much time on trying to become better? We read, we attend, we groom, we pout. We self deny, and blame. We study, we learn, we concentrate – all in the name of self-improvement.

What if all that self-improvement self-talk is just rhetoric? Lots of big talk and action striving for an impossible standard?

What if we all pretend that we are already improved? Just for one day.

We don’t need guilt, more discipline, or extra doses of control over our desires to be more perfect. Lets just be ourselves. Our inner knowing, wise, joyful already spiritual selves.

For one day.

So, if your heart and spirit moves you, and only if this doesn’t feel like another ’should’ in your life, take a break from all that defines your improvement and join Jennifer Louden in her proclaimed May 15 “Freedom from Self-Improvement Day!”

For me, this means I will avoid reading, except for pleasure and learning, except for curiosity.

I’ll choose to forgo eating a whole box of chocolates as it doesn’t serve me, but not because I’m denying myself. And I may choose to eat just one. Or not.

And if I eat a chocolate, I’ll eat it with gratitude and appreciation. Not from shame, guilt or a feeling of failure from my self improvement.

I’ll go to yoga because I love the way my body and mind feels while I’m there, and not because I should get my body into shape or my mind to settle down.

Sure, I can take a class, read a book, learn something new today; but if I’m doing it because I should, or I’m somehow not perfect enough, I’ll always have a feeling of slight despair, striving for some dream of who I should be instead of living my wondrous life.

Freedom from self-improvement. Just for one day.

I like it. What about you?

Leave your comment below – even anonymously if you prefer, and let me know your thoughts.