Imperfections are the major enemies.

The trouble with imperfections is that you mostly feel fear, shame, and unworthiness and it takes a lot to feel otherwise. But once you accept your imperfect state, you open up a door for courage, compassion, and connection to work their magic.

The author singles out these three things as the gifts of imperfection, as they are what will make the walk through life’s imperfections, perfect. Courage is now popularly believed to mean the driving force for heroics but in its earlier definition, courage is “To speak one’s mind by telling all one’s heart.” Thus, courage is putting your heart out there and risking discrimination or mockery. And no, this doesn’t come easy, it takes a lot of courage to be vulnerable, that’s true heroism.

Compassion describes the ability to feel someone else’s pain and recognize that they equal and you understand what they’re going through. It doesn’t come naturally to us, as we’d rather save ourselves before we stick out our necks for someone else. To be truly compassionate, you must first accept your own struggles, only then can you have empathy for the next person’s. the key to compassion is setting boundaries and holding people accountable.

The connection is defined by the author as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.

As humans, we’re designed to yearn for connection but it isn’t without its perils. We have so many pseudo versions of connection courtesy of technology, we confuse online for realness. Some of us turn down the connection because we judge ourselves as weak for needing it.”