Monday, December 3, 2012

The Relationship between Perfection and Balance

I see it so many times.  It doesn’t matter what country I’m in or what company I’m working with, I see a direct relationship between the quest for “perfect” and the level of balance people feel.  What I’ve noticed is that people who strive for greater perfection tend to be more dissatisfied with their lives than those who are comfortable with the concept of “good enough” once in a while.  (This is not about living a life of mediocrity, but rather the ability to know what and when to let it go of.)  It’s not an easy lesson to master; I still struggle with this myself.  Letting go of the notion of perfect, if even on just a few things, can be very scary, as the path to perfection brings a sense of control and control brings comfort to many.   I found a great passage on the concept this weekend that I wanted to share.  It comes from Melody Beattie’s book, Journey to the Heart. 

“Let yourself be who you are. It’s difficult to be around people who are trying to be perfect – perfectly healthy, perfectly polite, perfectly poised, perfectly controlled.  Remember that being human means being imperfect, being flawed. Let yourself be. Let others be. Stand up and reveal who you are and know that you’re good enough.  Stop worrying that people will find out who you really are. Instead, hope that they do.  Help them by openly sharing yourself and being not who you think you should be but who you really are.” 

What not aim for “good enough” on a few things this week?

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