Saturday, July 4, 2009

PERFECTION IS ITS OWN END


What’s perfection? It’s an end. Maybe somebody else’s better description of perfection will come to mind but this strikes home for me.


Doesn’t perfection also mean excellence, faultlessness, flawlessness? That’s quite an attractive bunch of words indeed and it seems to have a power of its own the way it pushes many to want it for themselves. At all cost sometimes.


Is it good? I don’t know. People will have their reasons to want it; it’s all a matter of choice. But I think that it’s nothing more than the end of a challenge, a dream, a goal, a journey, growth, learning, ambition, of life.


Perfection when achieved would put an end to countless long hours – days – months or years of toiling over data and reports, the excitement of putting together an impossible project, of hearts pounding wondering if you’ve made it or not.. and so much more. All those things would be all gone because everything would be in its perfect place. What else would there be to do? In short, it ends the chase and everything it would entail for a person after a dream.


What challenge is there left in or with perfection?


Even a perfect human being can be quite a bore. There would be nothing more to discover, to be surprised with, or to be interested in anew. There would be no learning; he (or she) would be so predictable. Even in relationships. And God for him --- would be nothing but a comic book character like superman.


That could be said of things and stuff too. If things we used in our daily lives were perfect, what need would there be for invention, creativity, innovation, vision, imagination, improvement? What need would there be for dreams?



"Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make yourself a happier and more productive person." -- Dr. David M. Burns





10 comments:

  1. "Whats perfection? Its an End."

    So True Ellen. :)

    TC.
    Rup

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Rup,

    So nice to see you! :-)
    How's life? I suppose you have been kept so busy Lols! ..as usual the busybody that you are. Well, take care please and let's try for a chat sometime okay?

    Blessings to you and your family.

    Ellen

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's so true. If you are perfect, there is nothing exciting about you. One becomes so predictable.
    But then if perfection means being flawless, faultless and excellence, can being excellent = being boring?
    When one is the best, it means no one is better than that person but then we do hear the phrase "better than the best". It indicates that if you are the best, you can strive to be better by out-doing or beating your own achievements.
    I am my biggest competitor .
    Same way, I can be MORE PERFECT than I am now - so I don't really think, perfection means the end :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ellen,

    One should always try to be a perfectionist in work but it should not become a stumbling block. When working on a project within limited resources and time one has to see that everything goes as planned but should always take the unforeseen in the stride and change path accordingly. Perfectionism should not become an obsession. I have known a person who insists that dinner table be laid in manner that each plate and cutlary is at designated place not a milimeter this side or that side. One should strive for success but not accept slip ups as a matter of routine.

    Oh, very long comment.

    Take care

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Sapphire,

    Oh maybe excellence can't be 'boring'--if the observer focuses his sight on the outstanding effort/s a person puts into it. One flawed idea, goal, or dream becomes one exceptional piece of achievement through hard work and perseverance. That's amazing and truly deserving of emulation, don't you think?

    Well, some people do and don't. Meaning, it's how one looks at life. As Dr. Burns says... ".. Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to LEARN new things and move forward with your life. .." That is the whole point of the post.

    It's wonderful to see you again, Sapphire. You're a smart young lady so nice to chat with. Take care okay? Hope to see you more often. I wonder if you're in facebook? We could connect there too. :-)

    Blessings to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jack,

    True, one does try to be the best in whatever venture he or she does. But I want to believe that in spite of doing or being the best, one would and should still leave enough room for more growth.

    I like these words from Dr. Burns ....... "...Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. .."

    :-) Not at all, Jack. Your 'long' comment is just what I want in the blog. It is such a pleasure and delight to see someone take the time to put down his or her thoughts to the piece written. It's appreciated.

    Thanks for the lovely visit.
    Best regards to your family.
    Blessings to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Elen,
    There is a poem by Rabindranath Tagore where the poet says, "I went to God's door but came back without seeing him because seeing him would have put an end to my search for him." It's the journey that's important.

    I have been writing short stories for sometime and have written seven so far, on various topics, friendship, corporate politics, racial profiling, etc. I have published one of them. I would appreciate if you could take out sometime and read my work and leave your views. If you know any publication that would be interested to take some of them up for publishing, please let me know. It may be a magazine or a publishing house anything will do. My writing mayn't be extremely good but it can be edited by them.

    My short story URL
    http://www.editred.com/indrasish

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Indrasish,

    That's a wonderful line. Precisely it's the 'journey that's important'. The search, chase, or pursuit means a whole lot more than getting there. The challenge lies in it as one puts in all he's got -- talent, knowledge, resources, planning, and the wisdom to do the right thing, et al.

    You have made a good stride in your writing goals by joining editred.com It's a good place wherein your work can be reviewed and evaluated by your peers. Their inputs are valuable to further improve your craft. Keep an open mind and try to learn all that you can from them. Sometimes you have to do a lot of editing before you can finally come up with a good product. Serious writing is different from simple blogging. In blogging anything goes. But in serious writing there are pointers and rules. Especially in grammar. The essential thing to note is the learning that you get from such a venture.

    Frankly, I didn't know that such a site existed online for newbie writers. Great! I couldn't leave message for you on your page tho as I was asked to register to put down a comment.

    I'd like to see your blog page (if you have one) for that piece you have written, if it's there. :-)

    Take care. God bless you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Elen,
    Thanks for your encouragement. I have a blog site but I haven't put my stories there. I seldom blog nowadays, but I do maintain some blog sites. Here is my blog address:

    http://indrasishblog.blogspot.com/

    (I don't have enough traffic on this blog)

    An observation. Your site takes lot of time to open; probably you need to check out what's th problem.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you, Indrasish, for your observation. I suppose the 'slowness' is caused by a lot of pictures posted on the page. The number of posts on the page are now reduced to only five. Let's see if that would improve the concern. :-) So you're on blogspot too. I will be visiting your blog. See you around then.

    ReplyDelete

:-) Here's where I warmly welcome you and where you leave your footprints behind with fond memories attached to it of wonderful chats and friendships. Thank you for your comments. Or send your comments to ellen622@gmail.com. Will be seeing you in your blog too. God bless you!