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Perfection is a Myth. We have always been told to adapt to the surroundings and evolve. That is one of the primitive rules of surviving on this planet / earth. Society tells us that we have to be “fit” for its ways in every way possible. If I had to give a word to what everyone wants us to be, that would be “perfect”. Yes, perfect. Not suitable or befitting but perfect. That’s what parents want their children to be, a teacher wants the students to be and a boss wants the employees to be.
Perfection is an illusion, change what you can, accept the rest and move on. Setting aside this widely agreed upon concept, I would like to say that perfection is unattainable: it is nothing but a myth. Nobody leads a perfect life or has a perfect personality. All have flaws hidden underneath their presentable exterior. The person closest to perfection in a filed would actually be the one who is ‘better’ than others but not “perfect”. The people around us and, May I say, we ourselves have programmed ourselves to strive for the unattainable, i.e., perfection. Somebody once said, “Perfection is an illusion: change what you can, accept the rest and move on”. I would not challenge even a syllable of this sentence. Undoubtedly, being able to fit into everyone’s definition of perfection is not only difficult but somewhat impossible. The best each one of us can do is to find errors in our ways, correct it where it’s possible, let it to when it cannot be done and live with it.
Has anyone of you ever stopped to wonder as to who developed the criteria of perfection? Who classifies us as being perfect or imperfect? Well, the answer is nobody. Nobody knows what perfection is, so why not build a definition of our won? Every person perceives perfection in a different manner and, therefore, must have the right to be perfect according to one’s own standards and not that of their boss, teacher or parents.
In our society parents have great expectations from their children. Parents dream of their children to be ‘perfect’, in the eyes of the society, by either pursuing the career of medicine or engineering. I don’t know in any way think of these careers as being unacceptable but what I am saying is that everyone must have a liking and opinions of one’s own as to what one wants to become, when one grow up. We should stop labeling people from the day they are born. Dreams of becoming a guitarist, an entertainer, a comedian, an actor, a scientist, an astronaut, or an entrepreneur should not be scrutinized and thought of as absurd ideas generated as a result of westernization or watching too much television. We ourselves listen to, watch, get entertained by and appreciate these artists but we don’t let our children be one of them. I believe we can prosper as a community when we let go of these labels and stop judging, not only people, but also their careers. So what if we don’t get to be the perfect individuals with the perfect jobs? At least we would be content with what we are doing. This is your life and your life story should have your mistakes, your choices and the inevitable outcomes. There should be no one to blame or appreciate for what your life turns out to be, but you.
I believe I can explain this better with an example from a Hollywood movie, The Black Swan, the leading star tries to perfect her ballet moves to such an extent that she herself turns into the ‘ black swan’ in the end. Thus, if you are trying to live up to somebody else’s expectations, you may end up being someone you are not. And losing yourself is definitely not worth it.
The key is to keep experimenting and striving for betterment. It is important to be better than you were the day before. This would help you in being motivated and therefore excel in both our personal and professional life. So let’s stop fussing about attaining perfection and happily live our imperfect lives.
