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I’ve been listening to the radio and have been immersed in this interview with an author. I admit that I’m envious of her because she’s talking about her recent book and all the positive accolades she’s been receiving.
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Regardless of my envy, the interview and the scenery has put me in a contemplative mood. I feel that it stems not from the description of the author’s actual book, but rather the surrounding calm environment, the iced coffee that I’m drinking and the message she is trying to convey.
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She touched on a few key words that have pushed my thoughts in a unique direction. In a nut shell, I’m thinking about the things that drive us and how we define success. And as I think about these things I’ve come up with the following question—is the pursuit of perfection the enemy of satisfaction and inner peace? It’s kind of a heavy, reflective thought, but hey, that’s where I’m at, at this moment.
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I feel it’s important that we have some kind of pursuits and goals in our lives. In a way it provides us with a sense of purpose and prevents us from falling into the trap of stagnation. These goals keep us moving forward and, in a sense, can help us feel alive.
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I believe that most will define a goal as a specific end point, however reaching that point doesn’t necessarily mean everything will look like the picture we’ve formed in our heads. There are a few reasons why this may happen.
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Firstly, while there exists a sense of accomplishment when we reach a goal, it’s at best fleeting because, let’s face it, we’re going to ask ourselves, “what’s next?”
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Secondly, if you aren’t feeling a sense of satisfaction when reaching this predetermined point, it might be because you’re were expecting everything to be perfect. I think we can all agree that perfection doesn’t exist, yet we somehow view perfection as being synonymous with happiness.
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How often have you heard someone say, or maybe you’ve said it yourself, such things as: If I lose a few more pounds or work out a little harder, then I’ll have the perfect body. If I buy a bigger house, then life will be so much better. If I take on another responsibility, I’ll be viewed as successful and be given respect. I’m sure if you think about it, you too can add to this list.
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If you’re an avid reader of Tuesday’s Thoughts, you know that I’ve frequently said, “it’s not the destination, but more about the journey.” There’s one thing that I’ve learned in my years in emergency medicine and that is life can take a drastic turn at any given moment. If you’re not finding happiness or joy in the things you’re doing now, then you’re most likely not going to find it when you reach a certain point, that’s if you even make it to that point. In other words, it’s better to choose to experience happiness and peace now, rather than never having the opportunity to experience it at all.
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As for that sense of calm and peace that I had been feeling while sitting in my truck; well, that was smashed to smithereens within the first hour of being on the unit. Chalk it up to the eighty something year old intoxicated patient who called me an incompetent a-hole because I didn’t get that ice pack fast enough. Then there was the older drunk patient who jumped out of bed, threatened to kick my butt and then proceeded to tear off his underwear and pee all over the floor. Ah, yes, what can I say. Nothing is ever perfect.
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I still believe that the majority of us want to be in this together, let’s not be too close together while we’re all in it.