Direction
Daily Meditation #185–8/26/2022
Much as Narcissus died staring into his reflection, we are killing our unborn selves staring into the absolute void of misperceived perfection.
You have been brainwashed into believing that effort towards perfection is attainable as well as desirable.
Social media has perverted your perception by molesting your attention with image after image of people who have won the genetic lottery.
Slender waists.
Large, perky breasts.
Ample, defined muscles.
Thigh gaps.
Near symmetrical faces.
Flabless bellies.
It has also raped your perception into a state of Stockholm Syndrome. Your brain is flooded all day with story after story, post after post of people “winning.”
“We just got our first home!”
“I got a promotion!”
“Check out my new Porsche!”
You have been deceived.
You have been manipulated.
What you are spoonfed — addicted to — is what is algorithmically hand selected.
Just as cream literally rises to the top, so do your senses get bombarded with the misleading “cream” of success and beauty.
Remember — there are multiple billion dollar industries built around the carrot-on-a-stick that is pursuit of perfection.
This is not to say being “average” is an acceptable aim. One should always endeavor to wake up and strive to be just a bit better, today, than they were yesterday.
But, this is to remind you of the utter masturbation that is perfection and the pursuit of it.
We must, instead, aim in the broad direction towards perfection.
To be better, today, than yesterday, but next year even moreso than this year.
To practice that which we seek mastery over, consistently, that we may improve the aforementioned “aim” and — in the improvement of the aim towards perfection — to move the target out farther and make the target harder to hit.
But, for today, focus on your current, small, near target.
Today, just be better. Just a smidge.
Then do it again tomorrow.
And the next day.
Next week.
Next month.
A parabola is a lot of “near nothings” then all at once is near vertical.
So too can you be.
But you can’t be perfect. Limitations are what make life meaningful.
Follow for daily philosophical meditations.
These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
