#3 The Alternative

So we have established what perfectionism is and why it is bad. Are we going to just sit here, stuck as a schmuck with no luck? Absolutely not! We are going to get better! We are here to evolve!

But how do we do that?

The key to evolution is to ask yourself what road you are traveling. Look at the big picture: are you on the path of improvement, or destruction? I imagine a painter working on a masterpiece. If he is not dedicated to his craft every day of his life, even his most perfect painting would never compare to what he could achieve with dedication. If he happens to slip up and paint something that sits well below his standards, it will still be better than some of the things he could paint if he never picked up his brush at all.   

Take right now, for example. My cat insists on bothering me at the worst possible times, and now he insists on forcing his way into my lap to take up most of the space where my laptop should be. Instead, I am sitting here, clutching my keyboard in my chest with my wrists cramping up like no tomorrow. This is far from ideal. But I ask myself: what road is my life walking? Am I moving in the direction of impatience, or am I marching towards a life of joy, even if that means my wrists start hurting.

Another way to ask this is what am I growing in? I think forward drive is the key component to evolving. Seeking perfectionism is never about growth, it’s about beatdown. The real path to talent is in constant growth. Growth that comes from others, and constructive feedback on areas you can improve your craft as a whole. Perfectionism condemns for the specifics. Perfectionism says you’re worthless because you hit that one note a little flat. Progress says you could improve on your timing. Progress says that you need to work on your tendency to be a little off-key. Perfectionism and progress: those are the two opposing ways to getting to talent. 

Some might say grace is the antidote to perfectionism, and to that I say meh. Grace is the forgiveness of mistakes, but progress is what we fill in its place. Grace says that you’re not a loser despite singing flat, progress helps you be flat a little less often. Grace says “it’s ok,” while progress says “...but let’s get up and try again.”

And this brings us back to yesterday’s example. The Pharisees loved their rules, but they weren’t growing in anything. The rules were meant as a way to live a good life closer to God. Rules were guidelines to keep your car driving towards the Creator. Instead, they became obsessed with maintenance, worshiping the car instead of the place it was meant to drive. 

But Jesus understood all this. At one point He asks these law guys if they would save their kids if they fell into a well on the sabbath (aka the no-work day.) I imagine this like Jesus taking a bat to their shiny new car. I see Him wacking away at it, putting dent after dent in the precious exterior, chipping the paint on the fancy spoiler and maybe even putting a little crack in one of the side mirrors. Then after He has had His fun, he looks at the owner of the car. Jesus turns to the owner, whose mouth is still gaping, and says with a shrug.

“What? It still drives fine!” 

That’s the picture I see of perfectionism. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying you shouldn’t invest yourself into doing quality work. But if you get so focused on the “what,” you can forget the “why.” That’s how I have managed to improve so much on my writing: I just keep doing it. Sure, I have to go back over it to make sure it actually makes sense. And I do take on big challenges like a post a day, or a topic that really interests me. But the big reason I can keep going is because I have accepted that the overall product might still have some dents. There are still areas that need to be improved. Even my strengths could be strengthened, and let’s not even start on my weaknesses! In other words, I have decided ahead of time to keep moving despite imperfections.

But that’s the point: they shouldn’t stop you, they should excite you! Growing should be a fun process of enjoying the ability to do things better than you did yesterday. I know when I discover a new insight, or make some headway in my understanding of something, I get excited. Sure, I get tired of it all sometimes, but I am doing something that fuels me. At the end of the day, I don’t let anything eclipse my love of writing. And that’s where we should all be at.

So did any of this ring true for you? Does this idea of forward motion make some sense to you? Try to start thinking of things in these terms. The next time you catch yourself (or your perfectionist friend) obsessing over miniature failures, try to shift your gaze back to the big picture and ask yourself how things are going overall. Is this a dent in the spoiler, or a leak in the fuel line? I pray God shows you areas you can grow in, and that He shifts your perspective from one of sticks to one of infinite carrots.

Until next time

May Peece be your guide.