Don’t Seek Perfection

Perfection is Undesirable:

In life, I think it is good to always have the spirit of improvement, however I think we need to be careful of the Cerberus (false ideal) of perfection.

This is my thinking:

In modern society, we have been suckered by consumerism to believe that we can purchase this notion of “perfection”. We seek the best lifestyle; a life of perfect bliss, endless bliss, with no pain, misery, or sorrow. Yet, what if it is pain, misery, and sorrow which actually makes life worth living?
2. “Perfect” is not an objective thing we can measure. Thus the notion or concept of “perfection” is pure folly. And all notions of what is “good” or “bad” comes from subjective taste and judgements.
3. If somehow we did achieve perfection, it would be the most miserable hell. Why? We wouldn’t have anything left to aspire towards!

Thus we are tormented in two ways:

We are seeking a false happiness in the notion of “perfection”, which causes us a lot of stress, frustration, and misery.
2. Even if we achieved perfection, we would end up feeling miserable, because we would have no higher heights to aspire to.

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## What is the solution?

Practical ideas:

1. Always seek “better” and “improvement”, but only measure yourself against your own self-imposed ruler or yardstick. Or as Warren Buffet says, “Judge yourself by your own inner-scorecard”.
2. When you come to the realization that perfection and “the best” doesn’t exist, you will be much more satisfied and happy with “satisficing” (suffice + satisfy). For example you can still make really great photos with an 80% “good enough” camera. Or you don’t need the “best” new phone. Or you don’t need to seek the “perfect” car, home, or lifestyle. Seek tools which are “good enough”, and use the downsides as “creative constraints” to actually assist you to be /more/ creative!
3. By embracing imperfection, you will never be bored in your life. You can use your entire life to pursue a life of bricolage, tinkering, and experimentation. You’ll never discover the “ultimate answer” or “ultimate truth” in life, because it doesn’t exist. And this is what makes life fun, interesting, and challenging — the lack of clarity, the lack of order. We thus thrive in chaos, randomness, and in a world without meaning. *We have the power to create our own meaning in life!*

Thrive on,
ERIC