Sunday Serenity: Why Perfection is Overrated

 

[courtesy of thebestbrainpossible.com]

I’ve always been somewhat of a perfectionist.  I must admit that it’s become bloody exhausting.  I am beginning to realize that the only person who has ‘set the bar’ to this standard for me is yours truly.  When I saw the above quote, it started me thinking about inspiring others, how I have always felt it necessary to ‘get it right’ so that I may inspire others to do the same.

Well guess what? For the first time I realize that I’ve had it backwards all along.  Perhaps people are more inspired by how I deal with my imperfections (and I have a long list of them, that’s for sure).  I’m beginning to think that what we share, what we all share in life is not what looks good from the outside.  It has more to do with what we do with our human qualities, our imperfections of life.

That is not to say that we can’t be inspired by the achievements of others; most definitely we can be and should be.  But I think what brings things to a more relatable commonality is seeing our own imperfections in others and what they can achieve.  Come to think of it, I must admit that I’m inspired when I realize that someone takes their human imperfections and does the very best they can with what they’ve got.

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”
– Sigmund Freud

Our imperfections and how we deal with them can be extremely inspiring; isn’t it more impacting to know that someone has achieved something (whatever it might be) despite their human challenges, as opposed to there being no obstacles to overcome?  I wonder if this is due to the increased amount of effort we must use in order to achieve what we want.  In other words, our imperfections allow us to grow significantly by putting a lot of energy and effort into something we really want to achieve.  It feels like a great accomplishment (and, we can add, ‘despite’ our imperfections).  We did it, we achieved it, and we had a lot to endure to get it.  That’s very inspiring, I think.

I think I’ve been taught a valuable lesson through the quote at the beginning of this post.  I want to inspire people, and I love to be inspired by others.

[courtesy of tinybuddha.com]

Earlier I mentioned that I am very well acquainted with my own imperfections.  I can tell you that one that makes the ‘top ten’ in my list is my, ‘lack of patience with myself’.  I get quite upset trying to do something and realizing I’m going nowhere fast.  My frustration sets in, and I feel less and less patient with every attempt to do whatever it is I’m trying to get done.  But maybe it’s about time I tried dealing with this imperfection.  If I can get a handle on this ‘lack of patience’ thing, then maybe someone will be inspired by my efforts to ‘lighten up a bit’, and eventually get the job at hand completed with more understanding and patience.

So there it is; a challenge to myself.  I’ve put it in writing, right here in this post.  I challenge myself to be more patient with whatever it is I want to accomplish.  Will it inspire anyone? Maybe, but I guess I’ll have to have the patience to wait and find out!