Seeking that perfect state...

Do you believe there is some state of perfection out there and that if you just work hard enough and are good enough - well maybe one day, one great wonderful heavenly day - you'll arrive and find yourself resting perfectly in this wonderful, perfect state of perfection? Well if you have this belief, then you're just like me. Consciously or not, I think I've had this belief my whole life and now I can see how it's been driving me crazy for years and years.  Because with this belief, what happens to today? What happens to the preciousness and beauty of this moment, this day, this minute?

I've discovered that I miss so much when I believe that there's something out there, somewhere, in the future perhaps, that's better than this. And when am I going to get there? Tomorrow? 10 years from now? And then what happens? Well you get old and you die...

And without this belief - how would things look right now?

When I try to feel it, I discover a spaciousness of heart and of mind that I missed before - towards myself and towards everyone else too... a kind of niceness and softness... and warmth.

And this is not to say we can't work towards goals and try to improve ourselves... but that's not the same as getting caught in the belief that there is some perfect state out there somewhere which will magically transform everything if only we could achieve it!