Perfection: A Myth

“The fact is, every single one of us is a work-in-progress”

One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist. Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.

Perfectionism was unknown to us as children. Learning used to take place within the magical circle of play, where mistakes brought excitement, creativity, and interaction. As we grew up, the rationality of our thoughts made us think about Perfectionism and of course, being imperfect.

Look at a rock, it’s not symmetrical, has pits, holes, and rough edges. Would you say look at that imperfect rock? It is a rock, nonetheless, perfect in its existence. We can take that one step further. If you look at a car and proclaim “that is a bad boat,” you are technically correct. A car would make a lousy boat. Yet, at the same time, the car is not a boat at all: it is a car. This perceived flaw with the car is actually a flaw with our reasoning, in believing that the car ought to be something different. Imagine how ridiculous a man would look pushing a car into a lake, and growing frustrated when it sinks. Yet, isn’t that what all of us do so often?

We see the world not as it is, but as it is not. You would make a lousy me, and I would make a terrible you. Yet, each of us is exceptional at being who we are. There is no person who has ever lived or who shall ever live who could ever be better at being you, then you. Being who you are comes naturally to you, as natural as it is to a rock being itself. The process of trying to achieve perfection can really bring us down. And perfection looks different for everyone. It doesn’t take any courage at all to pretend to be perfect – but it takes all kinds of courage to admit that we are imperfect. Perfection has never existed in the real world and will never exist and the aim for it only brings suffering. “Good enough” is sufficient. It is perfectly fine to be in between and continue to be on the path to perfection.

Learning to say “let this be good enough” might help you deal with perfectionism. Life is precisely how it has always been and is intended to be: mostly awful and chaotic, halted by periodic moments of complete tragedy, and broken up by rare times of relative bliss and joy.