Wind of the Soul

As I have come to scour many spiritually empowering, self help, and metaphysical works, both online and off- I’ve noticed a slightly uncomfortable trend occurring. While the majority of information that’s provided by many teachers in these areas is fantastic, I tend to disagree with a common theme, which seems to keep popping up among some of the work: “Focus on achievement, not on perfection. Perfection does not exist.”

The reason this concept does not resonate with me is because it automatically assumes there are gaping flaws in every single experience that each one of us is living. It brings forth a lack mentality, assuming we will always fall short of some amazing mark.

I understand most teachers have good intentions as they speak on this subject. I also understand it’s much easier for people to break their goals down into smaller manageable pieces, instead of becoming overwhelmed by wanting all things to be perfect. However these teachings usually do not reference the idea of perfection not existing, as it strictly pertains to goal achievement. They state it in a manner that is very matter of fact: “Perfection does not exist. Therefore it’s pointless to strive towards it.”

I prefer to approach life from the premise that perfection is all there is. There’s no need to disregard it altogether, anymore than there’s the need to feel it’s a struggle to achieve it; not because it doesn’t exist, but because it’s already occurring around us in every moment of our lives.

Perfection waits for us, like gold and diamonds waiting to be discovered below the earth’s surface. It waits for us to become aware of the feeling and knowledge of it, within ourselves. It’s not something, which can only be achieved by scratching and clawing our way towards it. It’s something we are.

It’s something that already is, all of the time, while simultaneously continuing to evolve and unfold throughout our life experience. Some of us, through a not seeing the forest for the trees scenario, fall short of embracing this understanding and in turn our life experiences reflect things that we deem imperfect.

Many times our typical interpretation of the state of perfection is rough around the edges. I think we have to broaden our horizons as they pertain to the word perfect. We tend to feel it means flawless in every way. However, many things are immensely flawed (when viewed through the eyes and standards of our culture), yet they still have perfection written all over them in thousands of ways which we are unaccustomed to seeing. We are unaccustomed to seeing them, because we predominantly focus on the concept of imperfection.

I realize my logic flies in the face of everything most of us have ever been taught about right and wrong, winners and losers. But if those “traditional” ideologies are so fantastic, why is their so much self-imposed belief in inadequacy, deficiency, and self-loathing in this world? When we’re not turning our disgust and disappointment inward, we are transferring it outward, onto others. We find the need to label things imperfect because the majority of us approach life from a competitive, comparative mindset.

While the premise of competition is said to bring out the best in us, I believe the opposite is usually true. As we compete with others, we compare ourselves to them. As we compare ourselves, we buy into the idea that there is a standard we must measure up to- for if we don’t, then surely we must be failures. We then look out on the rest of the world, comparing them to these same standards, hoping we can find someone we are “better” than or that we can stand next to while feeling a short lived superiority. It’s short lived because it won’t be long until we again find someone we feel we do not measure up to.

Life is not about declaring superiority over anyone or anything. It’s about finding perfection (as much as we can) in each and every moment. It’s about giving up struggle, comparisons, battle, competition and conflict, on all levels. As we continue to cling to these things, only then are we fooled into believing in imperfection.

I understand it seems pretty impossible to find perfection in every single person and event that’s occurring on this earth. Even if we cannot see it in the moment something is transpiring, we can always look back on it later, reaching for an understanding of how it was perfect in its own unique way.

I believe the power that we yield in the moment of now, may not change the past, but by constantly growing and expanding our attitudes, emotions, ideas and beliefs we can pre-pave our future experiences. As we come to find perfection in the unfolding of all things, our future will most definitely develop in a manner that pleases us more and more.

My ideas and words in this post may seem “airy fairy” to some, and that’s fine, but I have lived my life in two distinct ways. The first was one in which I viewed the world as a fearful, competitive, fierce, dog-eat-dog environment, full of judgment and strife. And in the second, I have begun to relinquish struggle, comparisons and the need to prove something, while allowing others to be perfect as they are. While neither view is more correct or appropriate than the other – I know the latter path now represents the one that allows me to develop and flourish in a manner that was not afforded to me previously.

Perfection is all that has ever existed, however people associate it as always being this almost unachievable, yet wonderful, amazing state of all things being just so. It’s not that we can’t reach a place where all things line up quickly and ideally in our lives. But it’s guaranteed we will never reach that place, focusing on judgment, competition and the prevalence of imperfection.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Self-Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.