Moderate Perfection: What does it mean?

I used to be a frustrated perfectionist. It's not easy being a perfectionist. I would strive to do everything as perfectly as I could. However, this was not an effective method of getting some things accomplished because I would get frustrated that I couldn't do things perfectly right. This frustration would lead to failure and I would usually give up, and lose motivation. Then, I realized that I didn't have to accomplish every thing perfectly and if I focused on getting things done moderately the end result would usually end up being moderately perfect.

Besides the obvious uses of moderation (don't drink too much or drive too fast) there are less obvious uses for being moderate. Happiness, for example, is something western culture says is a good thing. However, is being too happy good? Is being too sad not good? Should we always have a big smile on our face? Or, should we go around scowling? Imagine happiness on a linear scale. At the right a +10 could be considered extremely happy and at the left a -10 may be considered extremely unhappy. Where should we want to be on that scale in our normal lives? Would you agree that if you can be at a +8 sometimes, then you could possibly be at a -8 sometimes too? Perhaps, if we could keep our happiness not above +3, then maybe it would never go less than -3. It is up to each of us to not expect other people to always be smiley and happy and to accept when others are feeling grumpy or sad.

Therefore, I have found that if I start any project by focusing on a moderate method to accomplish the goal, the end result will always be better than if I started by focusing on a perfect result. Moderate perfection is about living the life we want, in a comfortable manner, without having to bend over backwards to do it.

#moderateperfection #happiness #perfectionism