We do best what

                                                      

 we most enjoy! 

     Whoa, let’s not get too heavy duty here, what’s this perfectionist stuff all about?  Well, I’ve been thinking about the fact that perfectionism is not a state of existence as much as it is an ongoing pursuit of a state of existence.  No one, we’ve heard since birth, is perfect.  Some of us, though (actually, many of us, I believe) strive to be perfect at something, perhaps many things.  But perfectionists are not perfect!

     Perfectionism is a never-ending, daily striving effort for every serious writer.  Revising revisions.  Rewriting writing.  Rephrasing phrases.  Rechoosing word choices.  Repunctuating punctuation.  It can feel ike a freight train with never-ending tracks for some.  For me, it’s fun, exciting, challenging, and invigorating to write something and keep writing to make it better.  Knowing when to stop can be the issue.

     My wife, God love her, strives every day to be the perfect wife, the perfect homemaker and the perfect entrepreneur as she grows her own business.  She is all of those things and more to me and to others around her.  My daughter is a perfectionist theatre director/producer and has more than earned the perfect wife and mother status she strives for day after day with my son-in-law and three beautiful grandchildren.  My son-in-law is a smashing success business perfectionist who started in a converted closet of a tiny New York City apartment with just a phone, computer, and lightbulb!  My son is a perfectionist musician and talented cinematic composer.  He wasn’t born that way; and it’s been a struggle to reach his star, but he’s closing in on it.  We each choose a channel that we most enjoy and follow and chase it with conviction and energy at every opportunity.

     The pursuit of perfection is the lifeblood of every career and, actually, every existence.  We do best what we most enjoy!  If you have lost the drive, the meaning or the energy for the work you’re doing, revise, rewrite, rephrase, rechoose, repunctuate your thinking about it.  You may simply have outgrown the job.  Have the challenges that once attracted you become routine?  Are you so bored with the tasks and/or people you deal with that watching soap operas seems exciting? 

     Shake your booty!  Rattle your cage!  Try doing your daily routines differently.  How does it feel to brush your teeth (or your hair) with the brush in your other hand?  Put your wallet (or cellphone) in a different pocket.  How does it feel to drive a different route to or from work?  Or get up early enough to go watch the sunrise?  Just try it.  Just once.  See what happens. 

     Write it down (even if you’re not a writer).  Just once.  See how you feel about what you write.  Step back from yourself and where you’ve been heading.  Is it really where you want to be going?  Have you lost touch with what was your original motivation? 

     Can you shift gears and move into a new area of responsibility or a new physical location or a new organization . . . or take the risk of trying a new career or a new life doing something you enjoy more?  You can’t make that kind of decision without first evaluating where you are and looking carefully at the alternatives.  Go for it!             halalpiar