Perfection
Perfection
Perfection like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What this means is that beauty as well as perfection vary with each individual. How can perfection change? What is it? If we do something different is it still perfect? These are but a few of the questions that people, including me, think about when considering perfection.
There are as many definitions of perfection as there are human beings on the Earth. There are as many ideas of what perfection is as there are cultures, environmental experiences, and behavioral reactions to our reality. What is perfect for one person may be totally imperfect for another. That being said, there are common threads that most human beings share that govern their perspective of what perfection is and more often than not, if that idea of perfection is not achieved, it will give us headaches, stress, high blood pressure, anger, hatred, shame, frustration, and every other negative emotion possible.
A classic example is something I experienced with my daughter. I raised her in perfection. That is a bold statement but let me clarify that idea. It was the most perfect world I could create for her at the time and place we existed and the ability of my wisdom that I had achieved. It was as perfect as I could manage given my personality, my upbringing, and my spiritual and emotional education level. She grew up with love and unconditional understanding because that was my belief system. So that was perfect but her idea of perfection was guided, not only by me, but by societal expectations as well. Her idea of perfect meant straight As in school, being the most popular, staying organized, and doing everything herself. She applied all of her beliefs, behaviors, ideas, and perspectives and superimposed a self defined sense of perfection to all of her experiences. This often times led her to accomplish many unbelievable goals. This created a reality for her that gave her an ability to do great things and live a life of abundance and creativity. It also gave her anxiety, impatience, intolerance (mostly for herself), and lots of emotional pain. She could not accept anything other than what she considered perfect. She cried when she got a B, she broke down when she had to adjust a plan, and she took little solace in her dad's empathy when she regaled an experience that she considered imperfect.
I would guide and direct her toward the idea that she had done the best she could and that was as perfect as it gets. In our society it is expected that we all achieve a certain level of success to be considered perfect. I am the perfect dad as viewed through different societal standards but not perfect if viewed through a different set of eyes. I shared my ideas of perfection of organization, education, tolerance, understanding, love, health, spirituality, wealth, work ethic, self-esteem, and care for environment but each of my children have adapted those ideas to form their own ideas of perfection. That is perfect.
Perfection like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. What this means is that beauty as well as perfection vary with each individual. How can perfection change? What is it? If we do something different is it still perfect? These are but a few of the questions that people, including me, think about when considering perfection.
There are as many definitions of perfection as there are human beings on the Earth. There are as many ideas of what perfection is as there are cultures, environmental experiences, and behavioral reactions to our reality. What is perfect for one person may be totally imperfect for another. That being said, there are common threads that most human beings share that govern their perspective of what perfection is and more often than not, if that idea of perfection is not achieved, it will give us headaches, stress, high blood pressure, anger, hatred, shame, frustration, and every other negative emotion possible.
A classic example is something I experienced with my daughter. I raised her in perfection. That is a bold statement but let me clarify that idea. It was the most perfect world I could create for her at the time and place we existed and the ability of my wisdom that I had achieved. It was as perfect as I could manage given my personality, my upbringing, and my spiritual and emotional education level. She grew up with love and unconditional understanding because that was my belief system. So that was perfect but her idea of perfection was guided, not only by me, but by societal expectations as well. Her idea of perfect meant straight As in school, being the most popular, staying organized, and doing everything herself. She applied all of her beliefs, behaviors, ideas, and perspectives and superimposed a self defined sense of perfection to all of her experiences. This often times led her to accomplish many unbelievable goals. This created a reality for her that gave her an ability to do great things and live a life of abundance and creativity. It also gave her anxiety, impatience, intolerance (mostly for herself), and lots of emotional pain. She could not accept anything other than what she considered perfect. She cried when she got a B, she broke down when she had to adjust a plan, and she took little solace in her dad's empathy when she regaled an experience that she considered imperfect.
I would guide and direct her toward the idea that she had done the best she could and that was as perfect as it gets. In our society it is expected that we all achieve a certain level of success to be considered perfect. I am the perfect dad as viewed through different societal standards but not perfect if viewed through a different set of eyes. I shared my ideas of perfection of organization, education, tolerance, understanding, love, health, spirituality, wealth, work ethic, self-esteem, and care for environment but each of my children have adapted those ideas to form their own ideas of perfection. That is perfect.
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