The Silliness of Perfection

We spend much of our lives striving to find happiness and for a few of us we have been lucky enough to revel in what some would call a perfect moment, where all the variables culminate into a blissful awareness. But it seems that if we’re not striving to find those moments we are striving to get back to a time or a place where those existed, not realizing that they can and will never be the same. Those moments are a product of experiences that lead up to that special moment, once it’s passed all we can do is create other unique moments. Don’t waste time trying to recreate it. Instead, bath in the bliss and enjoy every ounce of it. Remember that feeling so when it comes again you can recognize it. The idea of perfection is misleading.

Practice makes perfect. This idea sets an expectation that there is an achievable level of perfection in the world. Perfection denotes that there is a right and a wrong or a level that can be reached where no more can be attained. When practicing any skill there is no attainable perfection according to any scale or measurement. Instead there is only you and what you are capable of. Because no matter how far you go there will always be more to learn. At one point in my life I thought it would have been impossible to play a full measure of 16^th notes at 120 bpm with one hand, but two weeks ago I reached that goal.

Growth can be difficult to measure especially in ones own life because it can take years to develop. If you spend a small amount of time reflecting you should be able to see growth on a long enough time frame. If you can’t you should probably evaluate some choices and change something in your life.  I, myself, spend far too much time reflecting on the past or looking to the future and not nearly enough working on the present. This is something I am constantly working on. Of course this all depends on your goals and where your happiness lies.

The biggest downfalls of achieving higher levels of growth are expectations, whether imposed by ourselves or others, or even worse trying to match someone else’s abilities. There’s nothing worse than trying to measure up to someone else and realizing that you do not have the same abilities. It’s important to have goals to reach but more so to realize that you will have to walk your own path at your own pace. Being fully aware of ourselves will help along the way. Understanding how we perceive the world around us allows us to understand how we can learn faster. We will still be working each at our own pace but then we can begin to focus in on the areas we are less proficient and adjust accordingly. I know I need to work on my hand to foot coordination and get my feet up to speed with my hands. When I sit down to practice I create exercises that focus on that area.

The same goes for every aspect of life, find something that you’re unhappy with and change it. Keep in mind that there are many factors in life that we have no control over but are there are a vast number of variables in life that we can control; take the time to find the ones you can. This doesn't always need to be humongous things in life they can be simple. It’s your life you should be happy with it.