The Beautiful, Imperfect Process of becoming

I was in the mood for reading quality articles and I stumbled on one article which is beautifully written. It’s about the process of becoming which I know it’s what I’m in, in my life for quite sometime.

I really enjoy how she put everything so beautiful to read and it’s warming my heart. She wrote about how an ordinary caterpillar becomes a magnificent butterfly. It is one of the most spectacular transformations in the natural world. The elegance of the butterfly with its colorful wings and graceful flight lies in stark contrast to its caterpillar predecessor, who did little but crawl around and eat.

I can relate to her writing, where I was struggling to have a job though deep inside I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there. I always wanted to be self employed since I was a teenager, I then jump from one to another job but nothing was really satisfy me. Deep inside, I was longing for the independence I crave to become what I wanted though I still didn’t have the idea what I should do.

I often go about my days that are filled with boring, routine tasks, and I long for more excitement – more travel, more noteworthy experience, more influence.

Although I’m far from perfect, I am working towards overcoming my weaknesses in order to become something more than I am: more kind, more patient, more understanding, more tolerant, more loving, more aware, more forgiving, more kind, more committed, more deliberate and purposeful about my choice, less impulsive, more self control, more thoughtful, less judgmental, less selfish.

As I work to develop those qualities that will better myself, I will also become a better partner, a better daughter, a better teacher (because we are all teachers), and a better friend.

At the end of the day, it does not matter whether our days are filled with exciting, noteworthy events to share with the world, or if we live simple, ordinary lives. The only thing that really matters is what we choose to do with our lives, and who we become as a result of our choices.

The truth is that each one of us is in the process of becoming something with each passing day. Either we are deliberately choosing to grow into the person who we want to become, or we are allowing our circumstances and other outside influences to dictate the kind of person who we will become by default.

It is our choice either way.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Yes, I am the captain of my own soul…and so are you. Our circumstances and shortcomings need not control our fate. Yet, even as we strive to improve ourselves, we all make mistakes. Lots of mistakes. Daily mistakes. Because making mistakes is part of being human.

The comforting thing is that we can learn from those mistakes, correct them, and allow them to teach us, strengthen us, and aid us in rising above our frailties to become a little bit better today than we were yesterday.

The beauty about this whole process is that, although we are on a quest to become our best selves, perfection is not required. What matters is the direction in which we are heading – so choose your direction wisely, and then cut yourself some slack on the idea of perfection.

And the next time you see someone who looks disheveled and frazzled at the end of a stressful day, hear another speak harshly in a moment of weakness, see a young mother struggling with her kids who are making a scene in public, walk into a friend’s house when it looks like a tornado blew through it, or a host of other things that might highlight the weaknesses of another – remember that we are all in the midst of the glorious, messy, beautiful, imperfect process of becoming.  

We may not be butterflies today, but hopefully someday we will fly away with the brilliant new wings that we have worked a lifetime to attain.

Until then, let us take control of our own lives, make deliberate decisions that lead us closer to who we want to become, be a little bit gentler with ourselves and our own imperfections, and work to be more understanding and less judgmental of others who are, like us, ordinary and imperfect caterpillars who are hoping to emerge one day as majestic and breath-taking butterflies.

Credit: LynetteSheppard