It never can be.  No one is perfect, no one is immune to fault.  And yet, all too often so many of us convince ourselves that we can be, that we have to be.  That everyone else is and therefore, we must be, or else we’re failures.

It’s when you realize that everyone is suffering in some way inside, that each of us have burdens we carry and baggage we pull, that you gain perspective on your own demons.  Sometimes, we are the root of our problems, and sometimes we’re not.

Yet, encouragement perhaps can be found in the philosophy that humanity has one common element, across all borders: we all suffer.  We all hurt, we all get wounded.  In fact, many times we are the ones who wound each other.  The people you love the most can hurt you the most and the friends you hold close are that much closer to your beating heart.

So what to do?  Settle for subpar?  Give up on even trying anymore?  Take pleasure in the idea that everyone else feels pain too?

I’ve always believed that life is about striving for extraordinary.  As a shallow example, take a look at people you think are attractive; it’s not usually because they are the stereotypical image of attractiveness, it’s because they are unique, different, and maybe that feels more human, more alive.  They aren’t ordinary.  I think this is true even with movie stars and famous people in time; the more unique you are, all the more beautiful you appear and the more memorable your face can be.  As humans, we’re drawn to differences.  It’s one reason across the centuries that the issue of race has had such a devastating effect on humanity. The ordinary in life is mundane, it’s boring, and it can be a slow death to the essence of what life is supposed to be about.  It’s so easy to get caught up living someone else’s life or following a path you never chose, content to become complacent with mediocrity and an unhappy existence.  Basically, either trying to be perfect or giving up altogether.  Either way, it sucks.

You don’t know everything.  You can’t.  Because we’re not perfect.  And with that thought, with being broken to the point of relinquishing control of your perfection, you can finally begin to experience happiness, joy, and peace.  Without pressure, without presumptions, only with the passionate and patient pursuit of a personal place of peace and contentedness, without the rolling over and giving up part.  Life goes on, you can be extraordinary.  Because extraordinary isn’t perfect.  It’s simply extraordinary.