Perfect is Perfectly Overused

Don't worry about being perfect but do your best to stand strong in your values and beliefs. The negative opinions in the world will not sway you to believe you're not good enough.

Apparently, I do everything perfectly. Cool, huh? I know this because everywhere I go someone tells me whatever I’ve done is perfect. It is said emphatically often with a little upward lilt at the end of the drawn-out purr.

As an example, consider my recent visit to the bank where I signed a paper that was declared perfect by the bank associate. I also discovered in the past couple of years that my orders placed at various restaurants are always perfect. If I want straws, it is perfect and if I don’t want straws, it’s still perfect. My mouth is always full when a server in a restaurant asked, “How is everything?” To which I can only say, “Ummm,” and shake my head up and down while I am told, “perfect..” How can I lose? The money I hand to the clerks in the store is perfect (even the torn $20 I taped back together). My purchases at any store are deemed perfect. The fact that I found everything I wanted in the store (as asked by the courteous clerk) is followed by an affirmative, “Perfect.” All answers I give to questions on the phone or in-person are perfect. When asked if I’m warm with the blanket given me before surgery and I happen to be, then that is perfect. My opinion on a poll, my favorite TV show, book, method of doing something, and thousands of other things I’ve done, chosen, or commented on have been proclaimed perfect. Imagine that.

In the old days, before “perfect” became the go-to comment to almost everything, I remember people using other words like, “Thank you,” “That’s great,” “Yes,” “Good,” “Great choice!” “Okay,” “Alright,” and any number of useful or neutral responses (I’m not judging them better than awesome perfect, of course). Anyone remember John Denver and his “Far Out?” Or, how about “Groovy?” Word fads come and go. A couple of years ago “insane” hit the phrase rage and everything that was fabulous, shocking, wonderful, or just too much was deemed “insane.” No one forgets the “like” preceding many words, especially used by, like, teenagers. Many sentences these days begin with “so,” my husband points out. Studying the evolution of speech is quite interesting, really.

According to a dictionary, perfect means: being entirely without fault or defect—FLAWLESS; satisfying all requirements: ACCURATE, EXPERT, PROFICIENT TOTAL, and lacking in no essential detail: COMPLETE. It also said it used to mean SANE but that is obsolete.

With my false sense of perfectness, I find myself using the “P” word. This trend is contagious!
Really, it’s okay. Perfect is a much better word to use than some ugly words we’re hearing too often these days. It is always fun to count how many perfects I can collect in a day. It makes for a perfect day on the bright side and my head gets a little bigger as I perfect.

On the other hand, perhaps some of the above definitions do fit certain situations nicely and warrant using “perfect,” but I’d like to think that “sane” might come out of obsoleteness and send “perfect” back to where it belongs.

Being Grateful for All We Have

This was given to me by my grandson.  It is precious because of the effort he put into making it and, of course, the message. I am always grateful for gifts.

An inspirational thought:  Cicero, a legendary statesman from the ancient decaying Roman Empire, called gratitude the parent of all other virtues.  If we keep a feeling of gratefulness--have gratitude in our hearts--we unlock an entire range of temporal and spiritual blessings.  Gratitude invigorates the soul, overcomes fear, envy, and resentfulness.  It frees the heart so one can better love others and be concerned with their welfare rather than self.

Most of us are familiar with some sort of tradition we follow to show gratitude for the food we eat.  Sometimes the blessing on the food is a memorized prayer like the one I grew up with--"Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and let this food to us be blessed."  Other times, we may offer a prayer off the cuff with whatever we feel inspired to say.  Either type of prayer is fine because it causes us to pause long enough to show gratitude for our food, which not everyone has on a regular basis in places throughout the world.

I challenge everyone to pause and really think about where their food actually comes from and what efforts are in play to get it to the table.  How about the following prayer for my morning smoothie:

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this food before me. I'm grateful for the cows that gave their milk, the farmer who milked them, the truck driver who transported the milk to the processing plant, and the plant workers who prepared the clean equipment to receive the milk. I'm grateful for the process that made my yogurt and for those who made the container that it was put into, as well as those who put it into the container.  I am grateful for those who transported it to the store, unloaded it, and put it on the store shelves, and for the clerk who checked me out at the grocery store. Bless this food to nourish and strengthen my body in the way that I need. Amen." Yeah, that is a bit much but don't tune me out yet. Think deeper.

If we went further back, we could thank the farmer who fed the cow and plowed and planted and watered the field where the grass grew for the cow to eat.  Perhaps, the farmer had to plow, cultivate, plant, cut, bale, and haul the hay for the cow to eat.  It can be a long list of complicated steps before the food makes it to us.

Think about all the food we eat and where it comes from and all the work that goes into getting it to our tables.  Many people are involved with laboring in the fields to gather fruits and vegetables,.  After that, there is washing, packaging, loading, transporting, unloading, and stocking.  All those steps and details for every single item means we get a quality product to enjoy in our homes.  

I would advise keeping the blessing on the food short in the interest of those hungry folks sitting at the table waiting to dig in as quickly as possible. A simple thanks for all the people who helped get the food to us will suffice.  It still doesn't stop me from thanking the chicken who laid the egg but I do that in private or everyone at the table would probably start laughing.

My husband enjoys creating a masterpiece when he prepares food.