There is only one direction
I can go from perfect
and if I gained it,
I would always
be ripe for a fall from
such a high perch.
So I’ve made a choice
to abandon perfect.
And instead,
I want to be happy…
as close to perfectly happy
as I can get with my life.
Because I know
the more I reach for perfect
the further and faster I travel
from happy.
I’ve learned
perfectly well
that happy and perfect
can’t walk the same path
for more than mere moments
before perfect is starving
for more perfection,
while happiness
is a full feast to behold.
~ cj 2011.09.11
As you know, I can SO relate to this. Perfectionism sucks the joy out of you, and leaves you feeling like you’re lacking. Giving up my quest for perfect was the best gift I have ever given myself. Glad you’re working on that, too.
I gave up my quest years ago in some ways and not at all in others. I’m writing a blog post about how that came to be. I’ve had some really big ah-ha’s about how sad a path of perfection can turn out to be. I don’t know that we ever give it up completely but I don’t think it’s possible to find grace and a true heart connection unless we do.
And 2011 for me is all about setting my life on a path that finds both of these in myself and others.
You know what I like to say? “you’re not perfect. You’re perfect for me.”. I love our friendship Karen. I really do. I admire you and I appreciate you so much for exactly who you are.
I traded in perfect for good enough quite some time ago and I’m so much happier….realizing when the unimportant stuff often does not need perfect..actually very little in life does. Also when I realized that perfect often goes unnoticed anyway……. the only one feels that pressure for perfect is you, everybody else is focused on themselves and pretty much does not notice……
No kidding right? I posted something today about a self esteem booth. We spend so much time worrying about what others think and the truth is that they’re rarely paying attn. And if they do and they’re judging? They aren’t the kind of people we should have in our lives.
Someone recently told me the etymology of the work perfect was actually related to mastery, not an error free state. How sad we’ve morphed it into something we can’t actually accomplish: perfection.
I’m looking forward to the conversation when I post the blog I’m writing. I’m so glad you’re reading too. I like talking to you.
Come to visit me. Or tell me to come visit you. I’ll do cabin manual labor. And Sophie sue will just lay around looking cute. What a time we’d have.
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
-Voltaire.
I LOVE this!
I promise you….I will come see you or if that doesn’t work you will come here. More likely I will come there after the first of the year…….that will be a start!!!!
What a beautiful moment THAT will be!
so your email was gonna be my comment but then……CJ you help in so many ways – and I am glad we survived and are here to share.
Hugs
Did you see my other post? I put a new one out there: http://budurl.com/cjhowtohappy
I love that you emailed me Cindy. However you communicate with me is perfectly fine. 🙂