I think the majority of the world religions would agree that humans are not perfect.
I won't restrain myself: you’re not perfect. I’m not perfect. And I might go so far as to say that nothing we will ever do is perfect.
In many ways, we still yearn for perfection. We aim to be the best we can be as individuals, and we’re called to work together as harmoniously as possible.
In the midst of our imperfect state, we’re called toward perfection. Yet in this life, we’ll never get there. We just get close.
I first discovered this in calculus class, a place I look back upon fondly as the beginnings of my spirituality. The basic concept of calculus is determining what happens as something gets closer and closer to infinity. A lot of magical things happen.
One divided by infinity becomes 0.
One plus infinity is still infinity. Even one MULTIPLIED BY infinity is still infinity.
If your formula produces a graph that infinitely gets closer to a particular value, the formula inevitably results in that value; known as the LIMIT.
Relating calculus to purpose is strange. Realizing my own imperfection, and the limitlessness of the universe, from calculus class is possibly stranger. But we approach infinity in our life. We’ll never get there, but it’s about the process. We get closer and closer to our LIMIT. In other words, a purpose.
What is it that drives us closer to our purpose? It’s our work, and our gifts.
In my junior year 6am calculus class, I found one of my first gifts: the ability to conceive what can’t be seen. I found my modus operandi, and over the next ten years I looked inward. I pushed toward infinite possibility, looking for LIMITS, or purposes, in my life.
I see it now as clear as the graphs from calculus class. Everything in our life vibrates with energy. We can try to force some things to come to be, but when you’re fighting your limit, your purpose, you’re just delaying the inevitable. All will come back to what you are meant to do.
You are meant to express your gifts.
Now that I’m approaching the limits of a few of my gifts, growing in those areas can be challenging. But I’m up for that. I’ve put in the work and now my work has become my passion, my restitution, and even something I occasionally get paid for.
Writing in particular might not have a return on investment. But it’s my gift and I get to share it with you today. I get to feel better because I got this off my chest. And I know it’s going to help at least one person, and hopefully more.
When you wake up feeling like things aren’t right, don’t let that get you down. Things are notright, and they never will be. Perfection isn’t attainable, but we work so that we can get closer and closer to perfection.
The more we work on our gifts, the easier the job becomes. Over time, we more effortlessly perform our tasks, provide value, and make dough.
The question isn’t whether you’re good enough. That’s subjective. The question is this: Are you in tune enough with your inner gifts to build on them and work on them? Getting in tune with them means you’ll be in touch with something no one can take from you. And that’s your limit. Build a life where you get to do what you love every day and you’ll be happy as can be. It won’t be perfect, but you’ll be on your way ;)
