by Stacy Wong

Created on: June 21, 2008

To say that something is perfect is in itself flawed. Perfection has always been an ideal: a dream that will never turn into reality. At best, we may only aim for something to be close to perfection, for it can never be error-free. Nevertheless, this does not mean that we adopt a defeatist attitude - not try to achieve the best in whatever we do since the best can never be reached. Perfection is still something that we should seek with discretion and be awed by.

Being a perfectionist myself, I can comprehend the agony behind selecting that most appropriate word to place in a report. The time I spend writing and refining a sentence or even a phrase is definitely comparable to the time someone else, who is less demanding of himself, spends producing an entire report. Despite the huge variance in the amount of effort put in to completing the task, both of us may eventually receive the same 'A' grade. Essentially, trying to be perfect may be beneficial, but trying too hard is simply time-consuming. I have often wondered if I weren't so critical of myself, I might still have gotten that 'A' without going through the endless self-imposed torture. That is why we need to be certain of when to stop pursuing perfection, just because there certainly are other more worthy causes to focus your energy on.

We are often amazed by those who seem to ace everything they do, be it work or academics or extra-curricular activities. These people are termed the creme de la creme, and are worshipped by many who then put in their best shot just so that they may be like their idols one day. In this sense, the awe people have for perfection is turned into a positive energy, motivating them to do even better and perhaps illuminating their path to greatness. Hence, if perfection can be translated into a drive for success, all the more it should be admired.

Pursuing perfection is not bad, but perhaps the act of achieving perfection per se is an art that needs to be perfected. This is because as we need to be aware of when we are going overboard in our pursuit of perfection. Once we cross this boundary, we would only be drifting further away from the perfection we initially desired. Thus the controversy we need to deal with is how to master the art of defining this fine restriction and exercising our discretion, instead of whether perfection should be sought after in the first place.

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