Life- A Book of Poems

Perfection

It's something we often strive for,
and yet we often fall short.

Why can't we live in a perfect world?
Why is such a world different for everyone?
Because perfection is a set of expectations,
we hold in high regard.

The world is full of expectations.
The ones we make for ourselves.
The ones we make for others.
The ones we impose on the life.
Life doesn't impose any on us.

The mind is a critical machine.
Keep it going and it will go on forever.
It breaks everything down into parts.
The most common being good and bad.

As Lao Tzu once said,
"When we see things as beautiful,
"other things become ugly.
"When we see things as good,
"other things become bad."

And from there you can see the world,
was created by our own devices.
A peaceful world is unified.
We live in a world divided.

One where the strong prey on the weak.
One where the good impose on the bad.
One where the wealthy lord over the poor.
One where the beautiful define what is ugly.

But shouldn't we strive for perfection?
Where would we be without standards?
Without goals to set for ourselves,
how would we reach our potential?

A good teacher allows for mistakes.
He points them out, and the student corrects them.
A student may be told what to do,
yet the student is not inferior to the master.
The teaching and taught are one.

A good student enjoys what he does.
No matter his ability or skill,
his goals are ones he can do,
and so he naturally becomes a master.

If you wish to get anywhere,
you have to start with what you are,
and build up from it.
All of our time is spent there.
If you hold a standard over your head,
you won't be happy until it's met.

Of course when a goal exists,
there's a lot we can learn from failure.
A good student accepts it completely,
and does not blame himself or others.

When he makes a mistake, he sees it.
By seeing it, he corrects it.
If he cannot correct it, he accepts it.
Victory is an expectation anyway.

What if instead of failure,
you see shortcomings as an opportunity to grow?
If you're interested, give it a try,
and see what comes to you.

Perfection is a clever trickster.
We see it as the best there is,
and yet it only exists in our heads.
When we meet it or exceed it,
we celebrate!
Now we are freed from our expectations.

Have you ever tried accepting something,
that does not meet your expectations?
You'll become free in the same way.

Although, expectations carry a lot of weight.
They tell us a lot about who we are,
who others are around us,
and are reinforced every day.
And even though they are invisible,
they prevent us from reaching our potential.

Because all expectations,
deaden the world around us.
We see things for what we wish them to be,
instead of what they are.
We compare, compete, contrast, criticize,
until the world is an unfair place,
where we neglect the beauty that's always there.

Is the world truly beautiful,
because it meets our expectations,
or is it something more,
something that shines between the cracks?

Every cloud in the sky,
has different shapes and forms,
they come in and out of existence.

We can organize their history,
we can compare ones we like and don't like,
yet they all come from the boundless sky,
which has no shape or form.

The sky is truly perfect,
but it is often forgotten.
When we realize it in ourselves,
we realize no ideas can define us.
We act without standards or expectations,
telling us what to do,
because we know ourselves as the sky,
for it is who we are inside.

Let the sky shine through you,
and you'll be a flower in a dry desert,
showing people a perfection they know inside,
by being truly you.