Let’s face it – perfection is the root of evil however everywhere we go we are bombarded by images of perfection, perfect people living perfect lives with their perfect bodies and perfect smiles…people who have been contrived by the advertising honchos since the dawn of advertising and who now smugly beam at us from billboards, across the world of social media, magazines and basically every piece of media we consume.

Here’s the thing though – as parents, and indeed mums, we all know it’s an utter pile of crap. Well, do we ALL know though? What about our children growing up with these images infiltrating their minds from every possible outlet. What is this all teaching them? That we should strive to be perfect, and to lead a perfect life that doesn’t exist. Pah! What are we doing to them?

As far as I’m concerned, especially when it comes to raising girls who seem worst effected by this ridiculous idea of perfection it is not perfection we should be teaching them, but bravery.

In a world when women seem to have progressed as far as they can in this world, in a world where they are potentially even now regressing somewhat – I mean, how is it possible that with all the advancements women hold fewer than a third of top jobs? – it is not perfection we should be teaching them, but bravery.

The bravery to fight for what you want. The bravery to break away from the masses. The bravery to stand up and be counted as an individual. The bravery to lead a full life. The bravery to know you are AWESOME. The bravery to never apologize for yourself, or for being who you are. The bravery to be fierce and have a self esteem that laughs in the face of all the insecurities we struggle so deeply with as women.

Despite all my maternal instincts which want to protect her so badly, I know I need to stand back, stop saying be careful!, let her go face to face with danger and empower her to be brave. I need to let her explore, deal with the consequences, AND WHAT ELSE?

Because if I don’t do it, who else is going to?

After all…..

“Greatness, in the last analysis, is largely bravery – courage in escaping from old ideas and old standards and respectable ways of doing things.” – James Harvey Robinson

If you have a daughter, do you try to teach them bravery over perfection? How do you go about going it? Please leave a comment below and share.

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