IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

May 16, 2006
Set Yourself Free
Letting Go Of Perfection
It is good to remember that one of our goals in life is to not be perfect. We often lose track of this aspiration. When we make mistakes, we think that we are failing or not measuring up. But if life is about experimenting, experiencing, and learning, then to be imperfect is a prerequisite. Life becomes much more interesting once we let go of our quest for perfection and aspire for imperfection instead.

This doesn't mean that we don't strive to be our best. We simply accept that there is no such thing as perfection-especially in life. All living things are in a ceaseless state of movement. Even as you read this, your hair is growing, your cells are dying and being reborn, and your blood is moving through your veins. Your life changes more than it stays the same. Perfection may happen in a moment, but it will not last because it is an impermanent state. Trying to hold on to perfection or forcing it to happen causes frustration and unhappiness.

In spite of this, many of us are in the habit of trying to be perfect. One way to nudge ourselves out of this tendency is to look at our lives and notice that no one is judging us to see whether or not we are perfect. Sometimes, perfectionism is a holdover from our childhood-an ideal we inherited from a demanding parent. We are adults now, and we can choose to let go of the need to perform for someone else's approval. Similarly, we can choose to experience the universe as a loving place where we are free to be imperfect. Once we realize this, we can begin to take ourselves less seriously and have more fun. Imperfection is inherent to being human. By embracing your imperfections, you embrace yourself.

Somewhere there is a person thinking that this may be contradicting what di book say!

I will just say here that I strive to be the best that I can be, period.

I can't say that I agree with this assertion. Imperfections will not be the reason for me embracing me. If there are imperfections, and there are,I'll work on it. I embrace me, myself, in general, not because of any imperfections.

__________________
Recently I saw Latoya Jackson on ABC's THE VIEW. I noticed her hands look the same shade/color as Sherri's but her face, neck was light?

Does she have Vitiligo too? Pray tell...

let's hope you change this assertion if you decided to have kids. No one is perfect. to chase perfection is the ultimate "fools gold" in the society we live in.

I accept my imperfections and learn from them because they help me grow....I learn that being humble helps with overcoming obstacles in life....We live to learn and when you always keep an optimistic out look on life the learning process will be very rewarding....

Aim for the tree tops and look forward to hitting the ground. Aim for the stars, and chances are I may land on a house top. Next try I may land on a mountain (or crash and burn in the sea, but I try nonetheless). I don't know for anyone else, but my employee evaluation is based on my attempts to do as perfect a job as possible; my boss is not trying to accept my imperfect performance.

Where do you work? Most work places ask you to do your BEST. Your best does not have to deal in terms and notions of perfection and imperfection.

Example:

I was on a project one time and the requirements were WAY over my head. I was not going to let anyoen else know this because my record of project completion had been "perfect" for five years straight. I was determined to succeed to maintain my high success rate. However, in the end, I didn't succeed and there were plenty of people there to laugh in my face. In chasing perfection, I put all of my imperfections out for display without even dealing with them beforehand.

In the work environment, you do your best. After that, let the chips falls where they may. Had I dealt with (and aknowleged) my imperfections earlier, the outcome would have surely been different.

Were you trying to do it right, do your best to get the project "perfect", or just throw something together, hope it flies and let things fall where they may? Doing my best means trying to do it right, get it perfect. Each round, I'll see space for improvement. To me, the goal for perfection in this imperfect world is about the pursuit. In that pursuit I learn and then change. Life is a test. I may not get that perfect score, but I'll "do my best" to try and attain it. I'm not of the mindset to just throw my hands up and slide through with the claim that my best is all I can do. In times past, one of my imperfections was my hot temper. It's now significantly less of a struggle, thanks to Grace. Doing my very best is the attempt to be perfect.