Some people live their lives to be perfect. However, perfection cannot be accomplished. You could compare shooting for perfection to attempting to hit the moon with a child's slingshot. It simply is impossible. Everything in life is based on expectations. You have expectations for yourself as well as other people around you. In turn, other people have expectations for you as well. This process is done subconsciously. Most people have many of their expectations set way too high. When these expectations are not met, disappointment is experienced. If you are constantly disappointed you will never be satisfied. This is why it is important to keep some expectations realistic.
No one should expect themselves to be perfect. The strive to become perfect, however, has pushed progression in society since in the beginning of time. Thousands of years ago, if people were satisfied with lugging things around on their backs, the wheel would have never been invented. If the wheel were never invented, it could be said that technology would never have advanced. With all of this dissatisfaction comes progression. With this progression we, as a society, become more perfect. Every time we jump up a level the threshold increases. This is why we can never be entirely perfect, there is always something more that can be done.
When Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb, he did not get it right his first try. He was dissatisfied that he did not live up to his and others expectations for himself. He pushed himself again and again to make electronic light possible. Finally after 1000 different tries, Edison created the lightbulb. It is very important that the human race progresses. If we are dissatisfied with dying, we will constantly try to come up with ways to prevent death. It will push biological engineers to discover cures for diseases. It will push scientists to create vast techniques to expand the life expectancy of human beings. If we did not have the energy to move forward, we would become extinct. Because we feel the need to strive for perfection, we constantly look for ways to stay alive in the future. Currently, this applies to the climate change. Scientists are trying to discover ways to create clean energy and clean up the environment. If they can accomplish this, the world will be safer for our children or grandchildren. Without the force of perfection pushing them forward, they have no chance of making this happen.
The practice of striving to be perfect should be used in moderation. You can’t have high expectation for everything. If all of your expectations are too high you will always be infinitely disappointed. If people are so beat into the ground because they feel like everything is wrong, no progression will ever be made. We must have a set of expectations where only a moderate amount of them are high. This way, progression would be made and disappointment would be experienced in a lesser degree.
No comments:
Post a Comment