We live in a culture that constantly tells us:
Do more.
Be more.
Fix yourself before you can rest.

And if we’re honest, many of us have absorbed that message into our spiritual lives, too.

We believe we need to pray more, achieve more, heal faster, or feel more inspired before we’re allowed to pause and say:
“Thank you.”

But what if the real invitation isn’t to become more—
but to be here, as we are?

What if gratitude doesn’t wait for perfection?
What if it starts with presence?

There’s a moment that comes for all of us.
The moment we realize we can’t control the outcome.

No matter how hard we try to plan, push, or predict—
life has a way of taking us off script.

And if you’re like most people I work with, that moment of surrender doesn’t come easily.
Because control, for many of us, feels like safety.
It feels like protection.
It feels like certainty in an uncertain world.

But what if the real safety is found in something softer?

There’s a voice many of us carry inside.
It sounds like this:

“You should’ve done more.”
“That wasn’t good enough.”
“Try harder next time.”

That voice rarely cheers for you.
It doesn’t celebrate your small wins or honor your rest.
It whispers that until things are better, cleaner, more impressive—you don’t get to feel good about yourself.

That voice?
It’s the voice of perfectionism.