Imperfect choices aren’t impossible choices.

We often want things to be perfect, easy, and straightforward, but that’s not the case. The choices we face are a bit more complicated. Some are certainly clearer than others. We’ve all had some that seem like we’re looking through dense fog to determine next steps.

Sometimes we kick up a dust storm and impede the view on our own. We have a difficult time settling down. We can’t find peace. We throw a fit. We pace. We’re impatient. We talk to everyone. We overanalyze. With every move, we can see less accurately.

Sometimes we sit too still. We wait too long. We have too many conditions on the ways we insist we’ll hear the direction and next steps.

Sometimes we compare our choices or the process of our decisions to others’. To be more specific, we compare our toughest struggles with what appears to be the easiest choices for others. We see their options as better and clearer.

In a world of Instagram and other inundating social media platforms, we either want something instantly or we get paralyzed by the accessible information of scrolling—and these options impact our approach to sorting through our choices as well. Even for those who aren’t consistently connected to social media, the effects brush against them, because they have become part of our culture.

We don’t need to be paralyzed by our options, and we don’t need to have an instant solution. We can be patient but not demand perfection. The imperfect can be the best for us much of the time. Some of the imperfections are what we need. We need to be challenged. Our weaknesses need to be strengthened. Our assumptions need to be questioned. And much of the time, there is something in the choices that we don’t realize we need—but we do. What we see as a shortcoming or even a dealbreaker will become an important building block for our future.

Embrace the imperfect. It might be the best possible stepping stone on your path forward.