Participation Over Perfection

Participation is undervalued and perfection is overvalued. 

Maybe this outlook started with what we were taught to value early on in life. Perfection or doing exceedingly well was an expectation set, more so by others than us. 

Participation is contributing or adding value in any way possible. Perfection is doing exceedingly well with nothing going wrong. 

Striving to do exceedingly well is natural. But we have to ask — are the expectations set so high that we fail to value presence and participation? Are we setting perfection as a metric for our happiness?

Showing up and participating in any activity is a win by itself. Just the fact that we show up to work on low days or sit to write an exam despite the anxiety around it, is an accomplishment that we need to acknowledge. 

Whenever I have been involved in an activity, I have looked to do well in it. The intention is right. However, overvaluing perfection has caused me to be too self-critical for not having delivered as well as expected. I used to overlook the positives for the negatives. 

Making that switch to valuing participation over perfection has been a practice of self-acceptance. 

While perfection isn’t easy to achieve, participation is — showing up on time and learning something new is something we all can do. These values add to making the event perfect. Taking care of these tiny yet significant details also goes a long way in moulding us into mature individuals. 

Another important thing to keep in mind is that our level of participation is largely in our control, while perfection involves factors that are outside our control. So, let us focus on what we can control and hope for the best!