The Antidote To Perfectionism

I once heard the story of a perfectionist.

He was a dentist.

Now, we all want the top shelf dentist. We want the person who’s going to do the best job. The person with the most wisdom and experience.

But imagine a dentist who is so wrapped up in his work, in the perfectionism of it, that it never feels done to him. Like, is he just going to keep grinding and polishing far past the point of being helpful?

Will my appointment never end?!?!

That wasn’t the case at all.

The guy just never felt good about his work. Truly, I can identify.

So, this dentist comes to the realization one day that he’s making himself miserable. That some people have “ugly” though a lot of times perfectly healthy and strong teeth. And that a lot of the unattractiveness isn’t his fault.

It’s caused by genetics, neglect, smoking, medication side-effects, etc.

And this dentist decides to just do B+ work.

That’s right.

B+.

Because he realizes that his B+ is better than most people’s A+.

And if he goes to work every day and genuinely does his best for his patients, if he cares about their health and wellbeing, if he stays in the moment and helps to co-create a healing environment with his patients, then he’s done his job.

And there’s a significant responsibility that also falls on the patient. They need to brush, floss, and get regular professional cleanings and such.

So, the dentist relaxes into his B+ lifestyle and his kindness and empathy grow along with his dental practice. He gains a reputation for not only being an excellent health care provider, but a compassionate and gentle person too.

Just the kind of person you’d trust to help you in an emergency.

And that’s the closest anyone ever gets to perfection.
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