Perfection?

A short while ago, a friend and I were talking about life and stuff...

You know how that goes, lol...

And we got on the subject of perfection...

I said, everything is perfect the way it is... I am the perfect Jestor, they were the perfect "them"... That is the perfect rock... For no other rock can have exactly the same characteristics and every be as perfect a rock as the rock we were discussing... But the second rock was the perfect second rock...

But then they pointed out some parts of them that they considered not perfect...

I pointed out, that, that perfection, is perfection as defined by others...

So, I am interested to see what others think...

Perhaps “perfection” is a control method used to keep us striving for acceptance or the approval by others. I see perfection as an unobtainable idea which cannot be aptly defined in a manner that would be agreed on by all.

Maybe we should teach acceptance?

What I mean by that is:
I am by no means perfect by others standards, (or what I would expect perfection to be should it exist) but I accept who I am and feel that I am just the way I was meant to be at this point. Could not the same be said about all other things in existence?

I agree with you Jestor. Everything on this day, this moment, is perfect. That doesn't mean that it won't change or that everything is good. Perfect is flowing (nothing ever stays the same) and it's sometimes awful and depressing. Though, that doesn't mean it's not perfect, just perfectly horrid.

i am perfect, whether others see it or not...

perfection is a goal, a matter of perspective, and ever changing...if we had no target to aim for then we'd have no motivation to improve

In any given moment, we cannot be anyone other than who we are. With that in mind, I find that the statements

"I am V-Tog"

and

"I am the perfect V-Tog"

mean something very similar.


It seems that a sense of aspiring to perfection is often rooted in a desire to be more like someone else, or certainly to make aspects our ourselves more like aspects of someone else. Without having seen these traits in another person, how would we even know that we could be that way? Without others to compare ourselves to, wouldn't we all just assume that the way we are is totally normal?

So then you could argue that becoming more perfect in our eyes wouldn't actually make us more perfect versions of ourselves, because it is more to do with becoming a version of someone else...

I can already see flaws in that...one being if we saw it like that it would mean that we could never change and grow...

But then perhaps we shouldn't see ourselves as wanting to become more perfect versions of ourselves, because most people will never find what they are looking for - surely by the time you have 'improved' the parts of you that you thought would lead to perfection, you will find that you have already identified new imperfections in yourself, and so as you go through life trapped in this cycle of seeking unattainable perfection, you can never just take time to enjoy being yourself...

So most of us have things we want to change about ourselves, and there is nothing wrong with that. But coming back to what I said at the start, we can only be who we are in the present moment, and that means that we should not see these changes as steps to perfection, but as steps to a slightly different version of the perfect beings that we already are.

http://www.templeofthejediorder.org/forum/Journals/68580-patrick-journal?limit=10&start=30#74737

V-Tog wrote:

PatrickB wrote: Topic: Perfection
One day i was at wallmart and the cashier said
:life is not perfect and is difficult sometime to understand being a live .And life is not perfect .
I said :
But perfection exist . the bottle of washing soap there , is that bottle is able to hold the liquid inside of the bottle . s
the cashier said :
yes
I said :
so that bottle in a way is perfectly made for that soap inside and shaped for the design of a beautiful objet .so that bottle is perfect .
the cashier said:
that is true but life is sometime right in different ways on many aspect .

I like how you explained this to the cashier. You've got to remember...for some people it is their job to try to design more perfect washing-up-liquid bottles...and what for? The ones they've already designed work perfectly well...so why do they need to keep changing them? Will they ever achieve that perfect bottle and be happy with their design? Couldn't they be doing something much more productive with their time?

I know that you've been asked to post responses to discussions in your journal, but I perfectly understood what you meant here, so if you don't mind, I'm going to quote this in the discussion thread

I believe that every "thing" is perfect. Every animal, fish, mammal (other than man)is perfect. They are what they are and move through life in the only way in which they know how, by the laws of nature.

Man is a different "animal' altogether. Because we have the capability of thought, the capability to expand our intelligence, an EGO to beat the band, and the ability also to be lazy and stupid, perfection within oneself is difficult to attain.

In our essence we are perfect, because we can attain everything we desire. It is our ego's and desires that cause imperfection.

When I look at you I see perfection, when I look in the mirror, I see imperfection.

Here’s a twist in everyone’s thinking, and we don’t have to hide it, I am really the one that is asking this question of perfection, because I have been, well order to obtain it, and I see that there is an issue with that and I have no fear in stating it. I see two sides to perfection.
On one hand, it is like a goal, to always strive to do better, to work a little harder and to be more resourceful.
On a different hand, with no true definition of perfect, it is something that doesn’t exist and going after it is just plain a waste of time and mentality.
What I question is where the limits of perfection are? Where does it stop being a goal of achievement and become a quest to lose your mind?
Also, how do you just not look towards what someone decides is perfect, and look to what your definition is.
I thought about it all class, and this is my definition…

“To strive to give more than your best in everything you try, without giving your soul up to do so.”
This however, is what I have been ordered to follow…

“To be the best. EVER.”

So, where are the limits? Where do I break off from what everyone orders me to be?

Wendaline wrote: I agree with you Jestor. Everything on this day, this moment, is perfect. That doesn't mean that it won't change or that everything is good. Perfect is flowing (nothing ever stays the same) and it's sometimes awful and depressing. Though, that doesn't mean it's not perfect, just perfectly horrid.

This.

This was the perfect post, haha.