There is deep wisdom in the appearance of excellence this morning. It is one of those mornings which I wish I could do over again. I awakened later than I would have liked, shortened my spiritual practice by leaving out certain elements that I love in order to fit others in, including writing this musing. Although I may feel some hesitation and resistance to the standard to which excellence calls me, it is exactly the practice that I need to focus on today. I am facing tasks that are requiring me to grow and stretch myself because they are new for me. I have a tendency to avoid the unfamiliar, putting off that which I perceive as hard until I really have to get it done. Excellence reminds me that this is not about perfection but giving the best of who I am to a task or activity. It is bringing all of my talent, skill and thoughts to the forefront and knowing that it will be enough because it represents the best of me. When I do things slap dash or without much effort because I think it is hard or that I cannot do it or feel that I will only be making a mistake anyway so why try, I am depriving myself of the opportunity to learn, to see the possibilities in all that happens. It is a real attitudinal shift that I am being asked to adopt this morning. One that will help me to look at difficult tasks as opportunities to advance, if I have the courage to give my all to it. I have been mulling over a proposal that I have been asked to tender for work in my city. It humbles me that I do not know much about proposal writing and I am seeking to work for myself. Last week I had been keeping this to myself until I reached out and had a conversation with a friend and help was offered. I have some fear about what the final product may look like and how it will be received, but until I sit down and give it an honest try, I will not be able to put myself in the frame to even be offered this work. Then I will bring on a whole heap of avoidable pain. So I am embracing vulnerability, leaping with my eyes closed and opening my heart to all that is and what may be. I am reminded that this work that I seek to win is work that I love doing because it fulfills a noble purpose, it is a small part of helping to better the world and reveals the very best of an organisation, its people. I am accepting that this is the steep gradient of an ever progressing learning curve and am resolved to let excellence guide me toward something wonderful.
The point that struck me was that excellence is not the same thing as perfection. It's a hard lesson for those of us with perfectionist tendencies.