Perfection

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Perfection is a subjective and often elusive concept, which means that people define what perfection means to them and these definitions most times doesn't hold on to the concreteness of facts. The fact that people think that a concept that is associated with an ideal state or flawless quality in various aspects of life, is possible or attainable is worth giving a concrete thought. Is it possible that anyone in life can be perfect?

To start with, the very nature of the human person is complex and multifaceted which makes it filled with flaws. Humans are sentient beings capable of reason, self-awareness, and a wide range of emotions. Additionally, social and moral dimensions play a significant role in shaping human nature, as individuals form connections with societies and shared values. The incoherent nature of reasoning where two opposite views can totally make sense to two different persons, becomes limitation to the perfect nature of human reasoning. The emotional attachment towards human judgments on things also pose another limitation to the attainment of perfection. Individuals in the society come together to form connections to values and norms which might differ from other communities, further more posing limitations to the attainment of perfection both in the human person and in the society that we find ourselves. All these points at the fact that it's almost impossible that we humans can be perfect in any sense but our expectations and interests breed the concrete sense or crave for perfection. It means that an imperfect man still wants people around him to be perfect.

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A good reference to this is in the dialogue titled "Phaedrus" written by the ancient philosopher Plato. In this dialogue, Plato suggested that the physical world and everything in it is imperfect and constantly changing, while perfection lies in the eternal forms or Ideas which exist in a non-material realm. According to Plato, physical instances of Beauty in the world are imperfect reflections or manifestations of the perfect form of Beauty. Therefore the pursuit of perfection then involves moving beyond the transient and imperfect physical world to contemplate and understand these eternal forms. In a layman's understanding, for we to attain perfection, we should move beyond physical judgement and try to harness the metaphysical potential that we have at our disposal. This is the difference between a person who just pursue perfection aimlessly and a perfectionist.

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A perfectionist is someone who has a tendency to strive for flawlessness and set extremely high standards for themselves, often seeking precision and excellence in their work or activities. They know quite well that a state of perfection is almost impossible but they simply don't give up on perfection rather they discipline themselves into striving towards perfection. A perfectionist cultivates the sense of not wanting to make mistakes or not wanting to accept mistakes as excuses. They build the strong mentality to undertake any pursuit believing they have what it takes to get the goal of such pursuit 100%. A perfectionist understands that a road can be made smooth and all beautiful but doesn't mean that such road will remain straight from the beginning to the end. He understands that there will be bends that must be encountered if anyone must ply such road.

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The legendary Bob Marley also supports this view of the perfectionist mindset. According to Bob Marley, "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." This statement explains his perspective on the pursuit of excellence rather than an unrealistic quest for perfection.

Perfectionists are those people who are constantly in pursuit excellence in all they do. It doesn't mean that they cannot make mistakes but what matters is that every mistake they make teaches new lessons and makes available new opportunity to succeed excellently the next time they try. ❣️