Strive for Perfection in everything you do. This is a saying that we have been taught our entire lives and it has been drummed in our brains since we were in preschool, but what exactly does it mean. In many cases we have been told that is means to try our best, but is that really perfection? An earthly perfection is nearly impossible. In a short debate with one of my high school teachers a few years back, he had argued that perfection is 100% possible as there was a point were any change would make it less perfect. I argued, however, that while there was that point, perfection was beyond that point and therefore unreachable. Perfect by my definition is being able to confidently and accurately say that there are no drawbacks from it. My teacher's definition was that perfect could be achieved by making it so that any change would make it less perfect. These two points of view on the word perfect are just a couple of the many different points of view. Almost everyone has a different view on what perfect is and it is impossible to put a literal definition on the word. It is extremely subjective. With either definition, there is a subjective element in it. What makes an object less perfect or what could be considered a drawback would be subjective. What would be perfect to one person will probably not be perfect to another. Striving for perfection is not a bad goal, however unrealistic it might be in my point of view. It helps us try our best. It takes everything we have to strive for perfection and while we still can't reach perfection, we can look at how far we got and revel in the satisfaction of it. There is a satisfaction that come from knowing you did your best and that you wouldn't have been able to have done more. Every time I strive for perfection, I come back with this satisfaction because I know I tried my best. If I don't try my best, come back feeling like I didn't do my best. I crave this satisfaction and therefore I try my best in everything I do.
Thanks,
Seth Pohle