Originally posted on Facebook HERE
The relentless pursuit of perfection. This is what’s been on my mind this week. It drives me. I want to be the best at everything I do. I demand that of myself. I am unsuccessful in this quest 100% of the time, too. Yet it persists. I want to be the healthiest person on the planet — I would love that. What would it take to even get close to that, though? Way more work than I’m willing to do, or probably even would have the time for, because, well… I also would like to be the greatest bass player of all-time, too — and no matter how much time I spend on that, it isn’t going to happen (Charles Berthoud has that locked up, but I digress)… and I want to be the best financial advisor I can be, too. Now, on that one — I just need to know within myself that everything I do is in the clients best interests. I’m not really focused on specifically trying to “be the best”. So, I just need to make sure I’m spending enough time verifying that whatever we’re doing has been analyzed to the point I have confidence in my recommendations. I’ve kinda been there for years now, but it takes a lot of time and effort to stay there. And I’d like to spend more time playing drums. And guitar/vocals. And looking within. Ah… there it is. Looking within. The relentless pursuit of perfection is always ego driven. It’s man made. Striving for that end result that never seems to happen. By the time you get there, you’ve already moved the line. I do this a lot. If and when I commit to something I’m usually all-in, baby. It’s part of the obsessive/compulsive behavior syndrome, right? Find a goal, make a plan, execute the plan. It takes focus and determination… and commitment. There isn’t enough time to commit to everything, right? Even if you just pick one thing and revolve your whole life around that — you will never get to perfection. And most of us have numerous things that drive our behavior. So it becomes a battle of priorities. Admittedly, work has been a top priority for me for many years now. I have that German work ethic I inherited from my father. I don’t feel comfortable unless I’m working on something. Eventually my day job will go away, I guess. But I do have many other interests as well… Music. Writing. Health and fitness… Lately, I’m really feeling that health and fitness needs to be a focus again. I’ve done it before, I can do it again. All the stuff I do in an attempt to stay as healthy as possible has been well documented before — regular weight lifting, running, yoga, massages, acupuncture, chiropractic care… and yet I’m not happy with where I am. I could eat better. Too much sugar for sure. Not sure I really wanna know my sodium intake, either. And, for me anyway — the only way to truly get fit is to spend time on it every single day. Which means — taking time from somewhere else to make fitness a priority, right? That’s how prioritizing works. You get disgusted with something and move it up the list. I’m looking at making some changes there. And — looking within. I know the value of this as well. But do I do anything about it?… Nope. Damn. It seems like “taking 10 minutes a day to meditate” is one of the first things that gets dropped when I’m looking to focus on something else. Pretty sure I spend way more than ten minutes a day on social media, so how hard could it be to carve out some time to be healthy? I say I don’t have the time — but I do. I don’t have the commitment. That is the difference. At some point, I need to look at things and commit. I will meditate every day. I will workout in some fashion — running, yoga, weight lifting, etc — every day. I will wipe sugar from my diet (yikes — that’s a scary one)… I realize that meditation will take me closer to God. I will never achieve perfection in any area. But I can and will be the best person I can be. Always. I can and will be the healthiest person I can be. Always. I can and will be in touch with the ocean of love that surrounds us all and live from there being grateful for every moment. Ah — I think I’m doing pretty good on that last one. So grateful. Filled with wonder and awe, always. Never perfect, always grateful. Driven and focused to live my best life. Glad to have you along for the journey. I wish you the best as you follow your own path through our limited time on this incredible planet we call earth…
