Seeking Perfection

I'm not really sure what it is about our society that constantly inspires us to seek for perfection in every area of our lives. I don't think that the search for perfection is necessarily a bad thing, but the heavy weight of failure when we don't have it is.

The most common way to search for perfection is in body image and we feel as though we are less than good enough when we don't look like a magazine. That's ridiculous as there is way too much airbrushing going on to ever tell what the original looked like. We also fail when we don't get grades that are high enough, either to please ourselves or others. We want to be at the top of the class, we want to be the best. That doesn't always happen though. Each person has a unique set of skills that they contribute and some skills cannot be measured by a passing grade.

We want perfect relationships. We want to never fight, to never have problems and never have to struggle. We want to never mess up and hurt someone who we love. It really doesn't work that way though. The best part about relationships are the imperfections that exist there when you create them. There will be fights sometimes and there will be mistakes. We won't get to have a relationship that never has problems, but we will get to have the great ones that we hang onto.

I would love to say that over the past years I have never fought with my best friend. We have known each other since 6th grade and while we're not really inseparable, we are always there for each other. I know that she will be reading this and know exactly what I'm talking about. There are times when I have not approved of her choices and many more times she has not approved of mine, but that doesn't really matter at the end of the day. What does matter is that there is a voice on the other end of the line when I have a bad day and need someone to support me. Better than that, when I'm bubbling over with happiness, I know I can call and have someone be happy for me too. I think that's what makes our friendship so perfect. Some days are hard to stay in touch with each other and others harder still when you have to support someone through something you never approved of, but it is strong and it is good. We know each other well and know that the perfection will let our friendship continue.

It is possible that in order to find perfection we have to look at the heart of the matter more than what we immediately see. There are mornings when I wake up, with my hair in various directions and circles under my eyes, wondering why anyone would ever be happy to see me. It never fails that my welcome man will have a smile on his face when I come down the stairs and the day will begin again in a great way. It really doesn't matter what I look like or if I sometimes mess up. The perfection in my relationships comes from the heart of the matter, where relationships truly flourish.