By 
Perfection is the ultimate pursuit.
If we constantly chase perfection, that means we’re constantly looking to improve, and that’s the best thing ever. So sure, aim for perfection. Good job. Way to go. Well done, little guy.
But if you ever, at any point, actually expect perfection, or if you’re ever disappointed that perfection hasn’t come, you’re a complete fucking idiot. Stop it.
This isn’t to say perfection is never coming. It does sometimes. You can find a perfect romantic moment, or a perfect quote for your current situation, or a perfect bite of sushi.
But that’s about it, because perfection is momentary. It appears in 3 to 4 second spurts and then fades immediately. There are no perfect dates, perfect movies, or perfect meals. There is always an awkward silence somewhere, or a story point that’s “left to the audience’s interpretation” but really is just total bullshit.
Even the most perfect bite of sushi quickly turns to shit.
Your job will never be perfect. You’ll always want to make a little more, or have more of an impact on the world, or want a co-worker that smells less like a fart pillow.
You won’t find the perfect home. It will either stretch your budget too much, or be too far from your water aerobics, or have insufficient closet space for your low-level hoarding.
Perhaps most importantly, you will never be perfect. No matter how many seminars you go to, you’ll always be kinda fucking annoying. You’ll always either be an asshole or a doormat. You’ll be either opinionated about things you don’t understand, or you’ll be a sad, mushy excuse for a person. You’ll either be sanctimonious, or an uncaring prick.
The problems you fix will lead to other problems that are arguably just as annoying. Life is an interminable game of whack-a-mole.
There will always, always be something wrong with everything, and the more you expect that to not be the case, the more miserable you are going to be.
You will go through life pissed off that your girlfriend can be a little needy, or that your coworker can’t listen to directions, or that your mom’s laugh sounds like a dying whale, and you’ll miss out on what’s so great about people, and this big, amazing world we’re in.
So why do we put ourselves through this? Why do we expect perfection?
We have this idea in our heads that if we expect perfection–if we have sky high, impossible standards–that they will lead us to accomplish more, and therefore have a richer life, and therefore be happier.
But what happens instead is this: You work hard towards perfection, and you expect to be rewarded for your efforts–as was stated in the imaginary contract you pretended to sign with the universe. Then the universe looks at your contract and says “Not binding, asshole,” and instead of getting your perfection, you end up thinking your life is over.
Expecting perfection guarantees that we’ll never reach our own standards, and will always feel like miserable failures. It’s less like the constant orgasm you’re expecting, and more like punching yourself in the balls repeatedly while screaming, “I thought this would feel better!”
It leads to nothing but disappointment, frustration, and sore balls.
The Endless Pursuit
But, despite all of this, perfection is still the best thing you can pursue–as long as you know you’ll never reach it.
After all, you get great at something by trying to be perfect at it, and you stay sane by knowing you never will be.
The ultimate goal shouldn’t be to be perfect, but rather to always be more perfect.This goes for everything in life. You should always work to make your relationship, or your job, or your country more perfect than it is. You can avoid being a dumbass most of the time by trying to avoid being a dumbass all of the time.
You hit 90% of your free throws because you work really hard at the goal of hitting 100%.
So seek perfection with all your might–like a greyhound chasing a wooden rabbit around a track– knowing full well that you’ll never get to tear that motherfucker apart.
In a relationship, this means constantly working on yourself and helping your partner work on themselves, but it also means accepting that your boyfriend can be a little douchey around strangers, or that your girlfriend has weird feet.
In your job, it means constantly clawing your way upward, constantly looking to achieve more, and constantly looking to contribute more to the world, but it also means accepting its limits and your fart-pillow-cubicle-mate.In your leisure time, it means constantly seeking to fill your life with that which brings you joy, while also accepting that sometimes, life will rain dicks on you, and there’s nothing you can do about that.
It means chasing Godliness, while still knowing you’ll always just be some fuckin’ dude.
Many don’t seek to do this because that’s not a very satisfying path, and satisfaction is their ultimate goal. Beyond everything else, they just want to feel like they’re done–like they can just lay down without a care in the world, stare at the wall, and pour flour directly into their mouths until their breathing stops in a couple decades.
But maybe that’s…not ideal.
Fuck Satisfaction
Satisfaction can have its place sometimes. It can be a good feeling to reward yourself with after a long day’s work, or you can lie to yourself on your deathbed about having lived a satisfying life so you don’t die all bummed out (not to tell you my plans, but…).
But as a general state to be in, satisfaction is kind of for fucking losers.
When you’re satisfied, it means you’re done progressing and achieving. It means you’ve given up on trying to improve your life. It means you’ve accepted that you no longer have anything to contribute to the world, and at that point, what are you even doing here?
What use do we have for someone who doesn’t want to do anything? Shouldn’t we just kind of launch you into space, and make you Mars’ problem? (Actually I’ve heard worse ideas. Note to self: Write a letter to Elon Musk.)
As nice as it feels in a given moment, perpetual satisfaction is an evil, terrible thing to wish upon yourself. Stop it. You’ll never be perfect, and if you’re doing this life thing right, you’ll never be satisfied.
If you’re bummed out by all of this, you shouldn’t be. A perfect life would be the most miserable experience imaginable. You’d be constantly surrounded by greatness, riches, and easy joy, which means you’d immediately become spoiled by it.
It would be great for three days, and then it would go to shit. You’d be terrible to be around, you’d never smile again, and people would stop inviting you to play lasertag.
In fact, you should be excited about the way things are. Because imperfection is inevitable, you will always have more potential for wealth, and joy, and love. You and your life can always get better. How fucking amazing is that?
So buck up, pal. You’ll always, always, always suck. Relative to your potential, you’ll always be a miserable, incompetent, lazy, pants-shitting loser. And that’s fantastic.
