Reflectorial: On perfection
Freshmen, Fourth-years and those in the middle of their degrees, we want to talk to you about the insidious notion of perfection.
You’re starting school and you’re looking to do a good job or perhaps you’re getting ready to graduate and you’re trying to break into this thing called “the real world”. But wherever you are, you’re already in the real world and as much as most probably hate to hear it, it’s a process. And there is no secret that you’ve yet to unlock, no lucky-breaks and no perfect job, perfect opportunity or perfect place that you will end up.
We’ve all heard that no one is perfect and that perfection is unachievable and while those notions are obviously true, we think there is something missing in this conversation. It’s not about accepting fate or being unhappy with where you are because you’re not blameless or faultless. It’s not about the cheesy “just-be-yourself” conversation either.
It’s only about doing it. Whatever it may be. Then you do that thing with all your heart, imperfectly.
And as Charlie Brown once famously said: “In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back.” There’s no one right answer, it’s whatever you make it to be. There is nothing around for reference, as much as it seems like there are things you should be doing, reading, copying in terms of the way you look, eat, communicate, live…
Just go for something, no matter what other will say or what you think they will say.
Don’t let yourself get in the way. Most of the time, it’s ourselves that get in the way. We are our own worst critic and as much as we feel judged we can also make the choice of giving ourselves a break. You might think that it’s other people making you feel this way but at the end of the day you are the one that is choosing whether you take those things to heart or whether you let them go. Just like this article… we spent a long time complaining about how it would turn out until we realized the irony in that.
Welcome to MRU. This place is not perfect at all, as much as we try to make it so. But that’s awesome because that’s what education is all about.