Anyway, do we really want perfect?  The perfect relationship, the perfect situation, the perfect job, the perfect self.  "Perfection" implies that something is finished, complete, fully formed, and flawless.  In other words, it got to the point of absolute excellence, and there is no need to introduce any changes.  Does this sound like real life?

Life is dynamic.  Life is always changing, and most everything in a person's lifetime goes through changes.  With conscious effort and God's help, we can guide these changes in the direction of growth and improvement.  In other words, we can strive to make life better.  Perfection is not within our grasp - not while we live this life and inhabit these human bodies.  But, striving to make things better is within our grasp.  This is something we human beings can do.  You see, we are not perfect beings; we are human beings.

But there is really good news in this realization.  The good news is this: better is good.  God wants us to continually grow and develop and make improvements.  Sometimes the improvements are to be made within ourselves (e.g., learning to be more assertive, more giving, more understanding, more communicative, or more open).  Sometimes the improvements and changes are to be made in our life situations (e.g., getting out of a bad relationship, going back to school, moving to another neighborhood, or changing to a new line of work).

Although it occasionally happens, there aren't very many improvements that will instantly turn your whole life around.  Most improvements will only make your life a little bit better.  But, better is good.  Actually, better is great.  If you had to choose between "a little bit better" or "keeping things the way they are," wouldn't you opt for better?  Keep in mind that "perfect" is not an option here.

Life is a great big school.  We come here to learn.  Our never-ending homework is to keep growing and changing.  It's true that we reach certain plateaus, and we get to level out and pause for brief periods of time.  Then life challenges us and stretches us again, and it's time to improve some more.  A brief intermission, and then life requires us to adjust and bend and open up and seek and search.  When life pushes us to change, it's not a sign that we're doing life wrong.  It's just that this is what life is about.  Life is learning and change.  Life means continually getting better as a person.

If you're doing something to make your life and your self a little bit better, then you are doing something that God wants you to do.  God smiles on us when we grow.

And this very same something can make you a little bit stronger, a little bit happier, a little bit more loving, a little bit more fulfilled.

Dr. Jim Rosen