“The greater the emphasis on perfection, the further it recedes” – Haridas Chaudhuri

I wanted to have a nice piece of cake, but I thought “This would go perfect with a cup of coffee”, so I sought out to find a cup of coffee to go with the cake. Then I thought, “I need a napkin” – I went to find a napkin. Then, “oh, I should mix this all with a nice glass of cold milk”, another quest. Eventually I never enjoyed my cake, because I was busy searching for the ‘perfect’ experience.

The problem with perfection seeking is that I never simply enjoyed my cake!

We keep looking for what’s wrong, or what could be added, without stopping and saying “That’s enough”. When we decide that “that’s enough” we are saying, I’m content. I will enjoy just what I have here. What I have is enough to bring me joy.

This is something I’m constantly battling, I sabotage the joy of the moment by simply looking for something better, or something more perfect. This cake is great, but what if…?

Take Action:

• Decide first what you will do? “Begin with the end in mind” says Steven Covey. If we know what we are looking for at first, then it becomes easy to know when we’ve reached it, and we can allow ourselves to rest and enjoy because we know when we’ve reached our goal. I want to simply enjoy this piece of cake, it’s great just like it is.
• Catch yourself. The minute you start to think “This would be perfect if I just had -blank-“, catch yourself. Listen to your thoughts, and when you notice yourself looking for what would make this even more perfect, stop. It will only lead to an endless search.
• Learn to be content. We don’t need to be complacent to be content. Being content means you simply enjoy what you have in the moment. Being complacent means you have given up, or not set any goal in the first place. Once you have set a goal (enjoying this piece of cake), you have gone from being complacent to content.

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