OKAY

When you have a mental illness, it is all about learning to be okay with imperfection - giving your best effort to the most important priorities and letting other things fall where they may. This isn't giving up or being lazy, it is recognizing the human condition.  Oftentimes, when I am late for something or I give less than 100%, it gnaws at my heart and my stomach for an extended amount of time. Like Jeffrey R. Holland said, it feels like a "crater in the mind so deep that no one can responsibly suggest it would surely go away if those victims would just square their soldiers and think more positively." My mind can't seem to move on until someone tells me "It's okay."

Since being diagnosed with OCD, I have been developing an invaluable skill - the ability to tell myself that "it's okay" and believe it. You could say that this is my mantra. When I'm late for class and I can't get over the fact that I was late, I can tell myself that it's okay. When I lose my patience with someone and can't stop obsessing over how bad of a person I am, I can tell myself that it's okay.

I'm not perfect. Ain't nobody got time for that. And that's okay.