My client was telling me about lots of struggles, difficult times, and a few positive moments.  I noted, as I have many times with many clients, "It sounds like your present is perfect."

She went silent.  I was silent.  But I could see her processing and struggling with my words.  I sat quietly.

She finally erupted: "Perfect?!? How can you say that?  After all the stuff I told you... how can you tell me that things are perfect?"

I told her, "I didn't say great.  I didn't say it was how you wanted them to be.  Only that the present is perfect."

In that moment, I could see her gears turning... but she still couldn't make sense of what I was saying.

How can things feel upside-down and inside-out, and be perfect?

"Perfect" does not mean preferred.  It means something is complete.  A perfectly cooked steak is complete. It is cooked to a certain level.  But also consider a "perfect storm," the perfect combination of  circumstances that mean the storm is more powerful than when those circumstances don't combine.

The idea of the Present Perfect, which sounds like grammar, comes from life coach, Thomas Leonard.  He noted that the Present Perfect is the fact that this moment perfectly reflects everthing that has come before, up until now.

Why does that matter?  We explore it in this episode of the Thriveology Podcast.  Listen below

RELATED RESOURCES

Medium Article on the Present Perfect

Importance of Acceptance

What Can You Control?

Accept or Act

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