You are…

The myth of the ideal is oppressive

I lost you at the end there, didn’t I?

Perhaps you’ve made peace with being in a state of continual evolution. Good. You might have accepted that there is no finish line, only the very next step. Fine. But if those truths are true, how could anyone or anything possibly be perfect now?

The logic is sound. It’s our definition that is flawed.

We think about perfection as the ultimate ideal, but I have questions. First of all, says who? And also, by what measure? If the whole point is that it’s unattainable, doesn’t that mean perfection doesn’t exist? Or perhaps it does, but only in one specific possible future state?

I propose we redefine perfection in the context of the present. (This present moment being the only time we ever have to work with, after all.) Let’s remember that perfect can also mean a state of wholeness, a certain sufficiency—being enough. We are perfect when we have everything we need, when we are enough to meet the moment. The universe is perfect. So is a cloud. So is a snail, and its glittery trail.

And this is true of you too, and of me, and of our work together: Always growing, never complete and yet completely—perfectly—who and what is needed right now.

Are you able to believe this, even for the briefest of flashes? If you could, how would it feel in your tired, tense body? What would it mean to your craving, clinging mind? What would it look like in your leadership? What results and relationships might emerge from leading with acceptance and appreciation instead of judgment and blame?

It’s ok if perfection feels far away. It is hard to believe—and harder to remember—because our misunderstanding of perfection is cultural, institutional, societal. The myth of the ideal is both omnipresent and oppressive. The truth of our wholeness can set us free.

You can relax around reaching for perfection in the future. You are perfect now.

And in the now of the future, you will be perfect then too.