Imperfect humans benefit from sharing life

What if we’re all imperfect people, living in an imperfect world, inundated with programs and products promising to take us to places of perfection; while the entire illusion hides timeless processes possessing the necessary power and meaning to actually transform lives?

If we really are imperfect, why bother showing up? Why does the outcome matter?

Because little by little, inch by inch, side by side, we come to understand the power of embracing the process, forming partnerships and microcosm communities; where shared convictions act as catalyst for meaningful experiences, exemplary achievements, and unified team efforts producing an unbreakable camaraderie that’s contagious.

Maybe the closest thing to perfect is when one person unites with another person, giving birth to shared experiences, adding meaning and value to the lives of everyone who embrace the process.

This is a far cry from products claiming to have power to change lives, make us look more beautiful, run faster or jump higher.

Women don’t spend countless dollars on products and clothes just to accumulate them because they’re on sale. They really desire to feel beautiful and for others to notice they’re beautiful as well.

Men don’t spend exorbitant amounts on shoes because they’re in love with shoes as a product, but because they’re attempting to fashion an identity others will respect. But we all know beauty and fashion trends change, makeup and shoes wear out and go out of style.

And your individual high school record, that’s your proud product, eventually will be broken and soon forgotten as it’s replaced by someone else with a more productive outcome.

This is a far cry from programs that are outcome- and agenda-driven. Often, these programs just leave people in a state of mental fog, thinking, “What am I supposed to do now?” Programs tend to be information-driven and outcome-focused. People become disillusioned if they feel they’re being put into a box.

People are imperfect and we spend millions of dollars creating imperfect programs, disseminating imperfect information that doesn’t really live up to the hype of being able to change our imperfect lives.

To be human is to be imperfect, just as to be living is to be dying and the greatest good is still found in coming together for the sake of discovering shared meaning capable of changing all our lives.

If perfect practice doesn’t really make perfect performances, then why come together at all? What if there’s simply more to life than performances that eventually will fade away?

The greatest teams of all time know the secret that typically alludes most other teams and program efforts. Namely, it’s not about me.

The greatest teams, amazing coaches and the most gifted and talented players and overachievers in any arena will tell you life really is all about being together, sharing accomplishments and experiencing living in communities providing opportunities for excellence and meaningfulness as a way of life.

If you ask them, “What’s important around here?” they unanimously will answer the team. If you persist about what that means and how it relates to records and championships, they will tell you it’s about the sense of family and community the team provides, not the accomplishments.

This kind of community creates safe places for our imperfections to be processed, fostering atmospheres of accountability that are as natural as breathing air.

There really is no such thing as perfection. It’s like finding and buying a mine full of fool’s gold or quicksilver. The quest really is a fool’s errand.

Together, in the context of caring community cells, we discover shared counsel for the healing of our souls and guidance to meaningfully navigate the complexities of our lives.

Hunter, a young man mentioned in “The Calling Journey” — a book about leadership by Tony Stoltzfus — wasn’t discouraged by the ups and downs of life that involved a botched internship, he and his fiancee losing their jobs just after becoming engaged or being employed by a billionaire who cursed him out every day for six months.

Even though he was a tragic optimist, his ability to navigate his circumstances was unusual and would have challenged men twice his age. When questioned about his ability to stand tall and be seemingly unfazed by his life situation, he quickly responded, “I have always had great mentors. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to live without them.”

It’s written, “In a multitude of counsel, there is wisdom.”

When we embrace the process of sharing our lives, in the side-by-side counsel of caring communities, meaningful relationships and experiences emerge. These catapult us beyond mediocre living, to a place of exceptionally uncommon influence and uncommon results, changing our lives and transforming our world.