KEEP THE OLD WARM

To strive for perfection is a high ideal. But I say: “Fulfill something you are able to fulfill rather than run after what you will never achieve.” Nobody is perfect. Remember the saying: “None is good but God alone” [Luke 18:19], and nobody can be. It is an illusion. We can modestly strive to fulfill ourselves and to be as complete human beings as possible, and that will give us trouble enough. – Carl Jung Psychological Reflections: Problems of Self-Realization Pg. 219

Perfection is too heavy a burden for any person. It may perhaps be approached over a lifetime of dedication, but often it is a phantom, an illusion of those who want the best now and without struggle.

To achieve immediate perfection, we need only forget our faults and imperfections and imagine ourselves as gods. While this is fantasy, life goes on in reality. And in reality we are all human with countless imperfections and it is part of our journeys to have them. Why do we chase fake-perfection through willful blindness to our own faults?

What if instead, we accept that we are imperfect, shall fail, yet will only learn and grow?

What if, instead of demanding a hasty perfection from ourselves and others, we woke up tomorrow and looked forward to making incremental progress today, tomorrow, the next day, and each day for years on end?

What if dedication and discipline as a path to achievment guided us rather than unattainable ideals of perfection?

What if perfection was forgotten in the heart, and progress embraced with both arms?

What if, such a perception, may just be near to perfection?