What a Humane World Looks Like: NOT Waiting for "Perfection"

"Better to help ten real hurting people -- or nine, or one, than to be overwhelmed and withdraw and do nothing." ~ Sister Helen Prejean

My mom tells me that when I was a kid, I tried lots of different things: swimming, baton twirling (it was that decade), piano, etc. And, if I couldn't do something really well -- if I couldn't do it perfectly -- then I'd quit. I wanted to be perfect. Not because I needed to be better than everyone else, but because I couldn't bear the shame of being less. "Perfectionist" is a label that has trailed (and haunted) me throughout much of my life. Striving for excellence is one thing -- and something I work toward daily. But the craving for perfection has prevented me from becoming the person that I know I can be. It has repeatedly stopped me from taking action that could help create a better world.

My husband and I smilingly remember my father's "good enough" approach to home repair and remodeling. Especially as he got older, he'd patch something using duct tape, or mis-measure the cut of a board, and fall back on "That's good enough." That philosophy doesn't really fit well when you're building a fence or painting a house, but it is a standard that more of us who want to create a just, compassionate, sustainable world should embrace. The world can't wait until we have all the knowledge, all the skills, all the confidence, and all the resources we think we need to take positive action. The world can't wait for our perception of perfection. The people, animals and earth who are being exploited and oppressed need us to take action now -- to start with "good enough" and work from there.

As Paul Loeb, author of the book, Soul of a Citizen, says in an essay for Huffington Post:

"I love viewing Gandhi not as the master strategist of social change that he later became, but as someone who at first was literally tongue-tied--shyer and more intimidated than almost anyone we can imagine. His story is a caution against the impulse to try and achieve perfection before we begin the journey of social change."

In that same essay he quotes Atlanta activist Sonya Vetra Tinsley, who says:

"I think it does us all a disservice when people who work for social change are presented as saints--so much more noble than the rest of us. We get a false sense that from the moment they were born they were called to act, they never had doubts, were bathed in a circle of light. But I'm much more inspired learning how people succeeded despite their failings and uncertainties. It's a much less intimidating image. It makes me feel like I have a shot at changing things too."

In another essay, Loeb says:

"We might therefore characterize the citizens who make the most difference in this difficult time as people of imperfect character, acting on the basis of imperfect knowledge, for causes that may be imperfect as well and in circumstances they'd rarely have chosen. I think that's a profile any of us could match. If the change we need occurs, it's those who act for justice despite their doubts, limitations, and uncertainties who will ultimately bring it about."

So start with where you are. Pair your passions with your current skills and take positive action, even if it's only a small step.

~ Marsha

Image courtesy of woodleywonderworks via Creative Commons.

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