Perfection: A myth or a reality?

There is a popular saying among people that “practice makes perfection”.

However, I have recently been questioning the truth of this saying. This is because nature has conditioned us as humans not to have or live a perfect life. This is why human beings have equal combinations of both strengths and weaknesses. Even during interviews for applicants in a job position, recruiters or interviewers commonly ask the question; what are your weaknesses or strengths? Aside from that, in marriages, couples have strengths or what I hitherto call “strong points” and weaknesses or “weak points”. Psychologists apparently aware of this fact have developed different theories of human behaviours. These behaviours are known as “temperaments”, these temperaments describe a whole lot of human activities ranging from eating habits, studying habits, spending habits etc.

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Now the question goes: “why strive for perfection” when it is not even attainable or realistic”? I believe people place much emphasis on the concept because the society we find ourselves has placed much value on people living fake lives. This is why many people in a bid to belong or adapt, keep their true colours or real characters to themselves, not taking into cognizance the fact that character like the popular Yoruba adage is like a hidden smoke, the more you try to hide it, the more it exposes itself.

I believe that perfection as a concept or a term is vague and abstract. It therefore behoves us as human beings to live our lives as we are created and also strive to become a better version of ourselves day by day, not making anyone or anything or standard or role model. Apart from this, we should learn the spirit of tolerance and accommodation. This is especially applicable in the workplace where most leaders see themselves as people who are above mistakes, and at the slightest provocation are ever ready and willing to vent their anger on any employee, or follower makes the minutest mistake.

Certainly, there are different individuals, and it will bring about different models of human behaviour, different ways of thinking and the likes, however, learning to accept the way we are is the ultimate key to living a happy, successful and fulfilled life. Look at the animal kingdom, everyone animal irrespective of species learns to live a peacefully. Human beings can also take a cue from this. By that, we won’t live fake lives, because the cost of living a fake life is much more expensive than the cost of living a real life.

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