Do you ever feel frustrated by your own imperfections? It seems that everyone wants to perfect something about themselves, wishing for a better body, more money, greater success, or something else. This is unfortunate since it can only lead to discontent. A person can work and work to become the best at everything they do, and they might even become famous and recognized as the best in their field, but in the end, they can never be satisfied if they are seeking perfection. Eventually, someone will surpass them, or some other part of their life will fall apart in the meantime. Even if you are the most beautiful, talented, and
successful person that ever lived, time will catch up with you, and your life will eventually decline and end.
If you focus on creating perfection in life, you are focusing on the material world, which constantly changes and thus never reaches perfection. Everything in the
physical world is constantly transforming from one state to another. Living things are born, grow up, grow old, and then die. Rocks and soil erode, continents change shape, mountains slowly wash away into the sea, and even the sun may someday explode and disappear along with the earth. Thus, this world we experience during life is not about reaching a permanent state of perfection since that is impossible.
You're Already Perfect
Does this mean that there is nothing perfect in your existence? Not at all. There is one very important perfect thing—your soul. And the good news is that you don’t have to do anything to perfect it; it is already perfect! You can, however, learn to live more and more in
connection with the soul, which is the true meaning of spiritual growth. If someday you learn to live 100% in alignment with your soul, that does not mean your life will be “perfect” in the usual sense of that word. Maybe your body will have grown old by then, and you will still have to face the everyday problems of life. But you will be able to claim one thing that is the spiritual goal of life: completion.
Completion simply means that you are living in a state of pure connection with your soul, rather than chasing after the temporary, egoic satisfactions of life. If you can do this, you are living in the
domain of the creator, beyond the sufferings of time and space. The soul’s perspective is much higher than that of the material world, and it is beyond the constant sufferings of life and death. Instead, it is plugged into the eternal, divine cosmic realm. In this state of awareness, you will naturally feel your oneness with all life and with all the universe, and you will realize that everything in your life and everything in the universe is all part of a perfect whole, no matter how disappointing or even tragic the events of this life may seem on the individual level.
Applying a Broader Perspective
Taking this perspective on life—the perspective of the soul—has practical value, too, since it can make your everyday life happier and less stressful. You can save yourself a lot of heartache and pain by switching your mind from the question “Is this perfect?” to “Is this complete?” By asking the latter question, you are asking how a situation serves your soul’s purpose, rather than your ego’s purpose. If you do this, it becomes much easier to let go of hurtful situations once you have learned what you need from them, and you no longer need to obsess over everything being “successful” from the world’s perspective. Yes, of course, you can and should
pursue goals for your life and strive to do them as well as you are able, but you no longer need to feel attached to the results of your endeavors. Whether you fail or succeed, your soul remains in its perfected state.
So, I urge you to make this small, but profound change today: live for completion, not perfection. Doing so is like coming out of a small, dark box into the light.