Let it Flow

It was a devastating loss, for the Patriots and for their fans and I’m not sure who is suffering more. My stomach still hurts thinking about it. How can it be that a team goes 18-0 and simply cannot pull it off in the Super Bowl? I had expectations and now I suffer disappointment.

Maybe because Perfection = Pressure. The Patriots have been under an incredible amount of pressure to win each game from the coach, the fans, the media, the NFL. I said to my husband during the game, “I wish they had lost at least 1 game during the season so they could win today.” I realize that had they lost during the regular season yesterday’s game wouldn’t have been so hyped and important. Yet without the need for perfection, the pressure would have been less, wouldn’t it? At the end of the day what matters more? An 18-0 season that ends with a Super Bowl loss or a 17-1 season that ends with a Super Bowl win? I know the real answer is 19-0 on the season, but at the very least I would have preferred to see the Super Bowl win to end a less than perfect season. At the end of the day (or season) the one thing that matters is that win.

So is striving for perfection worth it?

I am a perfectionist by nature. If it’s not done right, why bother doing it at all? Ha! Little good that philosophy does me. When I live with that perfectionist attitude, I get nowhere. There is always that fear of failure looming over me, waiting for the moment when I’m no longer “on top”. I often find myself getting stuck and it’s a very frustrating place to be. When I first started my business I thought I had to be a perfect writer in order to write and that I needed more experience as a yoga instructor before I could teach. I was always “practicing” and never accomplishing anything! I was setting up expectations only to be disappointed. It took a long time to learn that things don’t have to be perfect. That I have to start somewhere in order to go somewhere and if I made a mistake, so what, I’ll learn and move on. Afterall I’m only human.

The stress of it.
Striving for perfection is stressful! Where does being perfect get me? Oftentimes nowhere. I get so afraid of making a mistake I choose not to complete the activity and that’s not helpful. Or as I mentioned I end up disappointed because I didn’t fulfill the perfectionist dream. Is it even possible to be perfect as human beings? I’m not convinced it is. If the Patriots had won yesterday, would there be pressure put on them to do it again next year? And if they didn’t achieve the same glory in 2008 would they be considered a failure?

And now, because of yesterday’s loss, 18-0 doesn’t really matter anymore, regardless of all the other records they set. We can’t forget that. They are still a great team. A team does not get to the Super Bowl with an 18-0 record without being a great team. And while great, they, too, are human.

Just thinking about all of the what if’s associated with perfection stresses and tires me out. It’s too much. And unfortunately it looks like it got to be too much for the Patriots.

As a fan I’m incredibly upset, I had expectations and hopes of a big win. I (and the rest of Patriots Nation) didn’t get my win. I got disappointment. Why? Because I had expectations of perfection. I believed they could do it! And when I expect something and don’t get it, I get upset. If the expectation of perfection wasn’t on the line and the Patriots still lost, would the hurt be as bad?

What do you think? Is striving for perfection worth it? How has it hurt or helped you in the past?

Tags: Food for thought, In the News //