In A Perfect World . . . May 12, 2011
Posted by nrhatch in Gratitude, Life Balance, Mindfulness.trackback
In a “perfect” world, we would never have to say good-bye to the pets and people we love.
We would be able to eat all we want without gaining weight.
We would never have to suffer from the consequences of poor choices made by us or others.
We wouldn’t have to exercise our bodies, our minds, or our self-restraint.
We would never grow old.
We would never be sick.
We would never die.
We would never learn . . . how to let go.
Letting go is the path to freedom. ~ Lama Surya Das
When we relinquish or renounce the extraneous, we are left with the essential, which cannot be lost. ~ Lama Surya Das
No rules. Just write!
Related posts: We Travel Best When We Travel Light * The Awakening by Sonny Carroll * Access Your Inner Wisdom * Meditation 101 * Time to Wake Up
Comments
Sorry comments are closed for this entry
Spirit Lights The Way 
I love this, we would never grow old! 🙂
I expect that it would begin to feel like Groundhog’s Day after a while . . . and we’d lament our loss of mortality.
Yes, I agree, I want to go when the time is right.
And, in the meantime, enjoy the play! All 3 acts, one hopes.
But is that “perfection” something that you would want? I heard proposals after 9/11 for non-explosive jet fuel. The problem, of course, is that if it’s not explosive, it’s not jet fuel. In a world with no consequences, there would be no growth. As Aeschylus told us, we suffer into truth.
You’re absolutely right, Greg.
It wouldn’t be perfect at all . . . we would be horrible, awful, people who never had to learn about consequences. Ack!
I stand by my saying that perfection is over-rated!
I agree.
There is perfection in our imperfection. Growing old and dying requires us to use our time wisely.
Hey, I just used your comment (When we know WHO we are . . . we know HOW to live.) as my FB status and I credited NR Hatch…bet people start googling to find out who this wise person is!
Cool! Thanks!
Oh but wouldn’t it be nice if perfection was perfection… Sometimes I get tired of growing, maturing, learning, getting stronger. Aren’t I strong enough already? hehehehe Oh well, in a perfect world, perfection would indeed be perfect!
Maybe you can “coast” for a time . . . because of all you’ve learned already. But what if you’d never learned anything because you had “all the time in the world” and no consequences to your actions.
I expect that we would become big blobs of Play-Doh like the humans in Wall-E. It’s hard for me to see that as “perfection.” 😀
I’d love to write a meaningful comment, Nancy, but I have to go and pluck a rogue chin hair that never used to DARE appear.
Growing old is not for sissies. 😉
My perfect world would be to have all the people that I loved and whose company I enjoyed back in my life at one time in one place. Most have past away and others moved to parts unknown. Herb with whom I did the crossword puzzles, Dick for his poetry and upbeat humor although weathering his slow death with cancer, Stan and Harden my fishing buddies, an ex girlfriend or two or three with whom there may have been a loving marriage, college friends, grandma who taught me how to cook when I was 3 and 4 years old, many 11th grade students with whom it would be delightful to see in the classroom every day, all these and more, frozen in time always to be together.
Sounds delightful, Carl.
I would like to be able to spend each birthday zooming back and forth in time (and space) to visit folks who have died . . . or who live at a distance.
I don’t want to be a kid again, but I’d love to be kid for day and have a chance to hang around with my Grandparents and Great Aunt.
Perfection is over-rated.
I agree! Watching the “perfect” world of Pleasantville helped me see how “colorless” perfection can be.
Here’s to finding perfection in imperfection.
But perfection would be so boring… and a world where nobody ever died would be stifling to say the least.
I agree, Maggie. Time and its passage reminds us to make the most of today.
Carpe diem.
I was a little taken aback when I began to read this post… then I saw where you were going, and it all came together.
Perfection is an odd concept. It does mean no growth (or need for any), and I wonder if it also means stagnation and boredom. But then, it it’s perfect…
I don’t know. I’m not ready for perfection, and I’m certainly not cut out for it.
Perfection seems less appealing the more I explore it.
As a child, I wanted to hold the status quo in my grubby paw and refuse to allow “change” to alter the equilibrium. But with one hand holding tight to the “past” . . . I would have been less inclined to reach out for the future.
Life is intended to be a continuous flow . . . not a stagnating pond.
Thanks for weighing in, Rik. 😀
NO way!
How would we ever appreciate the good times if there were no less good times with which to compare them?
Just so, Pseu!
Life is elevated by the contrast between light and dark, wet and dry, rain and sun.
It’s the holding of breath to see if the sun will peak out in time for the picnic . . . and the accomodation of a change in plans if it doesn’t.
This Lama Surya Das….must chase him up….
Here’s a brief intro, Kate:
https://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/awakening-to-the-sacred/
Love this! Especially the Mickey pic, life is always better with Disney 🙂 I def like the idea of not gaining weight but not sure about living forever!
I’m with you . . . I’d love to be able to eat with impunity. At least sometimes.
Please sir, may I have some more? 😉
Perfection sounds pretty boring! Haha
Except for eating to my heart’s content. 😀
It’s fun to consider life being perfect but then if life was always perfect, how would we know to enjoy it?
If you never knew what imperfection was like, there would be no appreciation for the perfection in life or the almost perfection since one opinion of perfection might be different from the others. And if there’s no appreciation, then you start taking everything for granted. What good would a world of perfection then be if everyone ceased to notice it anymore?
I guess you could say it would lead to imperfection….Maybe that’s why they say….There’s no such thing as perfect.
So true, Sharon. In the movie Pleasantville, everyone scores a 300 when they bowl, no one ever misses the basket, or gets less than 100 on a test. No burnt toast. No unpleasant arguments. No misteps or mishaps.
It’s B~O~R~I~N~G! {{yawn}}
Life is better when we have to work for the good times and work through the bad times.
in a perfect world we would naturally exercise all that is required for our bodies, we would only want to eat what is needed for our bodies and brains
and in a perfect world that would involve chocolate
You mean a world where “chocolate is the best medicine”?
Where “chocolate each day keeps the doctor away”?
Sign me up! 😉
When my husband was about to go in for open heart surgery 30 years ago, a very wise doctor calmed our fears by telling us that these times of crisis would strengthen our relationship. He was correct. 🙂 If life were “perfect”, there would not be times of crisis…and it is our struggles to cope with and overcome the difficulties of life that strengthen us and help us grow into the people we are meant to be.
Thanks, Nancy, for a wonderful post and great quotes!
Well put, Vivian. Some of the things that I would have “wished away” (had that been possible) caused me to become who I am today.
Over time, the “negatives” became “positives” and I would no longer want to “wash them away.”
Where do I buy the ticket? I’m in! Will it be a BYOC road trip to perfection or will we travel by air or by bus? Please update me… 🙂
W
Where do I buy the ticket? I’m in! Will it be a BYOC(bring your own car)road trip to perfection or will we travel by air or by bus? Please update me… 🙂
That W was for Wishful thinker. LOL!
E
What would writers write about in “Wishful Thinker” Land?
How to build a better mouse trap? No need.
Self-improvement? Nope. No room for improvment
Character growth? What’s that? We’re already at the pinnacle.
What would we complain about at work if everything were perfect? Conversation would come to a standstill.
Of course, we wouldn’t be there in the first place.
You’re probably right. In fact, if all the “negatives” were weeded out from conversations . . . we’d be quiet MOST of the time. 😉
[…] In A Perfect World . . . « Spirit Lights The Way […]
Don’t you think a lot of things would lose their worth if we were immortal? And that won’t feel like perfection then maybe.
I agree. One of life’s paradox:
The world is perfect in its imperfection ~ a perfect world would be imperfect indeed.