Perfection……a perception?

I have been long thinking on what to write about and then a perfect thought came to my mind on perfect time today and that is ……..”perfect”! 🙂 This is not a just a word which is used to describe superlative degree of admiration of someone or something but rather a more conceptual term than a reality. We are simply stuck at the other side of that wall of perfection because it can neither be reached nor crossed…because nothing can be better than perfect.

Can't we just customise perfection and be fulfilled with our work and life by making it  uniquely perfect for us???

Few years back I loved the idea that I was a perfectionist only until I realised that it actually held me back sometimes even of trying and was affecting my productivity and confidence. Most of the times, we want to make things so much perfect that we do not know when to stop perfecting things and it ends up either delayed or not happening at all. This is because we are just checking off things from “the perfectionism list” made by someone else which does not resonate with our own values and priorities. This makes perfectionists even afraid to outperform in a way to always match up to their self created level and even success becomes scary and then procrastination becomes the stress reliever. Or if at all, that so called level of perfectionism is reached …you are left burned out. So in short, the perfectionism wall is hit.

Finishing any work or task at hand is as important as attaining the level of performance expected. Because perfection is never arrived and if it has…it is just our perception. What is perfect for me ..might not be perfect for you and vice versa. So what exactly is perfection? I feel it is just an excuse which turns itself into a trap of fake belief that you cannot outperform yourself or anyone. The next moment someone does something better than you, that wall of perfection crashes down and you feel like an outsider in your own perfect world. What a mess!

Thinking on Christmas, the christmas tree or “Tannenbaum” as they say here in Germany….comes to mind. Decorated with various colorful ornaments, lit with fairy lights and a star on top….with gifts beneath …a perfect christmas tree…isn’t it? I thought of creating a loose painting of the same, it turned out just fine but not perfect for me ….then I thought if the painting is not perfect (for me) why not take a perfect picture. I used the selective focus option in my phone to fade out our beautiful tannenbaum in the background and there it goess…a perfect picture of my “imperfect” painting. So looking at my art of taking picture …. I could transform a little imperfection to perfection just by changing how I look at it….a little tilted and a beautiful background. Isn’t this true in life as well? If we try and look at ourselves and others differently, things would seem different. We see what the world shows us. But we can do the same and encourage ourselves to be better each time rather than fantasizing the unreal perfect world or performance which we always try to follow or do.

You know you are on a right path when you know that perfection drives you towards positivity and growth and not when it stops you from even trying or makes you fall for negativity and non-constructive criticism or judgement …it is just your insecurity nudging you to take action or reverse. It is a positive perfect when it drives you perform well rather than be Perfect or Best.

Funny enough, I am wearing a Pullover which says Perfect- It also says “Perfect” means being excellent in all respects. Simplicity that’s the key of being unique in your own way. It is so true, Only with simplicity or ease comes our true unique ways of doing things which we do not need to compare with anything or anyone and they are perfect because we did our best and not fought to be the best. Even Lord Krishna says in Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta that……strive for excellence and not to be the best. Because being excellent makes you eventually best….but being best doesn’t make you excellent.

We somehow are following this so called perfect rules of being a perfect parent, perfect employee, perfect spouse …..etc. Why can’t we liberate oursleves from these definitions and define our own perfect which falls under our values and respect it.

Comparison is prison….Acceptance is liberation.

-Self

So be perfect in your own unique way! Customize your perfection and perception.

P.S. This write-up is not perfect but I tried my best. That’s the message.