Share the Spiritual

Are you like me? Do you live thinking that perfection is just around the bend – a more ideal version of your life where you will do everything perfectly? Well, it’s becoming obvious to me that this unnatural state will never get here.

I often expect people to be perfect. I don’t allow for their complete and complex humanity. I tend to strive for a kind of artificial ideal that does not include the whole self. I exclude my own humanness.

I have lived many days wondering if I will ever get things “right.” I have put off life itself while waiting for an imagined future where I will do everything “perfectly.” But this unnatural state will never get here, because making mistakes is the human experience.

It’s all designed to move us forward. Life affords a unique chance to evolve. It gives us a dramatic and dual world. When things are more loving, as they are where we come from, we remain more static. But, when we are here and are faced with human challenges, these repeated difficulties push us to grow. We are offered the opportunity to learn about ourselves and to develop rapidly at the soul level.

What we perceive as imperfection is simply a chance to evolve, and this is the journey. The process is the purpose, and knowing this reminds me to live right now, rather than for an imagined scenario that will never be. Most importantly, the journey is perfect in how it teaches. And we, as expressions of God, are divinely perfect within. We are gorgeous in our unique power.

As an artist, I have noticed that the most beautiful things are not trying to be artificially perfect. They are truthful, and as such, we can relate to them. They call on us to embrace our whole selves and yet to reach higher towards beauty’s ideal. Maybe this shows the appeal for the perfect life I’ve been trying to get to, but what I have been missing is that it’s how we handle things that matters most.

You see, life is a spiritual practice, whether we’re ready or not. It is trying to teach us how to deal with our inevitable challenges. We will always be presented with the painful difficulties we wanted to go through, for that is the point of being here. And even when we fail to rise above our difficulties, our spirits still gain immense lessons to take back home.

I have found that my humanity becomes most obvious when I’m faced with personal upsets. I know all too well the reality of applying spiritual ideals to the messy soup of life, a test I often fail with emotional embarrassment. But, there is always a giant gift beneath the fiascoes I was born to perpetuate. Often, I only see this years later when I finally recognize God’s perfect design. I become moved to say, “Thank you for this lesson, for I could not have gotten here without it.”

It is so freeing to live in authenticity rather than pretending to be perfect. Expectations can be so high amidst our glaring difficulties, but if we let go of this false sense of control, we get to see the truth and know real freedom.

Lately, I find myself rejoicing in the small mistakes I make for the feeling of acceptance they bring. I am wanting to stop fighting the frustration around me, and instead ask, “What is the lesson here?” I am wanting to be open enough to say “I don’t know, please teach me.” I am learning to love my human self completely, with all of my light and shadow. These are the grand opportunities that life offers, and I am striving to cherish these immeasurable gifts.