Why is striving for perfection such a bad thing?

Question

People keep saying that there is no such thing as perfection. If you think the same, then please explain to me why? What's wrong with being perfect, or trying to be perfect? I mean, if you have an ideal in your mind, your set notion of what perfection is, what's wrong with trying to achieve it?

Answer 1

perfection is endlessly pursued yet never achieved..

Answer 2

I get the sense that when you talk about perfecting something, you are referring to the body, face, etc. I also have a feeling as though you are trying to justify your perfectness or your notion of perfecting...i don't find that wrong. So this is what i have to say to you. Perfecting isn't bad. Everyone is perfect in their own way. But it is kinda wrong to overlook your natural beauty and trying to turn something great you do have into something totally different or trying to generate something out of thin air when you physically cannot.
Trying to achieve perfectness is impossible because there will always, and i mean always, be a conscience telling you that now that this or that is not perfect. It goes on...
Just keep in mind that, at some point in life, you will not be a 20 year old beauty...you will be 80, with back problems, wrinkles, and stretch marks. You will sit on a wheel chair and admire the actual beautfiul things around you...the sky, the birds, the mountains...and think why you ever spend so much of your precious life perfecting something that was made perfect already.

Answer 3

There is a difference between aiming for perfection and then being perfect. Everyone has their own view of what "perfect" is. Everybody has a different point of view, therefore there is no such thing as "perfect", there will always be someone to disagree and think that it was not perfect, therefore it would not be perfect. As far as striving for perfection... If you strive for perfection, you will always and forever be let down for perfection will never be acheived since there is no such thing. If I made a list of things I wanted to do within that week and one of them was to grow wings and fly...at the end of the week that thing would not have gotten acomplished since there is no such thing as a human growing wings and flying. Aiming to be perfect is too high of an expectation to be putting on oneself. I sometimes feel overwhelmed and stressed out because I never complete what I want to in that day, and then I carry that with me in my head that i did not do what I need to do and then it affects me. What i realized was that I was setting too high of expectations upon myself. I try to make one or two things on my "to do" list so I can complete them sucessfully and feel good that I was able to get things accomplished, and if I had extra time in that day it was an option to do other things, but not a goal, so then if I did it then it would just be a bonus. And anyway, if anyone said or actually thought that they were close to being perfect, then that would be highly conceited, to say the least.

Answer 4

Because there is nothing after achieving it other than trying to achieve it again and any memory of a feeling or thing can be picked to pieces and not seem so perfect any more later. Any perfect essay is usually riddled with errors and imperfections on second reading or some one elses reading. Your thinking changes, what was perfect moves if you achieve perfection all you have to strive for is beyond it and it all takes up too much time on a detail when there is a full picture you are ignoring. I spend all day trying to achieve the perfect run and it is driving me insane. I can get stuck down the hill from our house trying to run up it fast enough and right enough to get it in the house. Perfection is an obsessive compulsive nightmare and what can you really do with it once you've got it anyway, all I see is all the hours I wasted trying for it when I could have achieved ten times more. Though I do think it is worth trying to do your very best in everything. If you if put all your effort into it, I think that is what perfect should be.

Answer 5

Being the best you can be is a good thing. The thing is that some folks get an idea so stuck in their minds that they forget about all the rest of what life is all about. Life is full of trade offs. I don't know what kind of ideal you are trying to meet, but you are likely trading off something else.

If you are looking for the perfect mate, forget about it. You'll never find that. A mate will have many things imperfect about him or her. Moreover, a mate will change those things over time and your perfect mate today may be your imperfect mate tomorrow. Moreover, you will change, too, and what your ideal is today will not be your ideal tomorrow. Moreover, humans are inherently imperfect (and perfection is an ideal you set and not necessarily something that exists in reality), so a perfect mate is impossible. Moreover, a person is one of those things that is so complicated that you cannot possibly find one that will have all of your requirements.

What about a perfect job? Having worked a few years myself (as a lawyer the last few years), I've found that you can have a job that is interesting, but that it doesn't pay as well as a job that is downright boring and requires you to work your rear end off. Or if you have a good paying joy that is interesting, you don't like the people you work with. Or maybe you like the people you work with, but the geographic location is bad. You have to take the good with the bad.

What about being perfect at school? I never was. I did well and now I'm an attorney, but I was never "perfect." I did learn. Of course, the ones that did well ended up at the big firms working long, long hours and yet not getting the good experience that young attorneys in lesser firms got. Moreover, those who studied too much got burned out and perhaps destroyed a relationship or two or failed to have fun during that period of school. I mean, life is full of experiences and you have to work to have some good ones, but you don't want to work so hard that you miss out on all the good ones.

The bottom line is that a desire to achieve perfection is not what life is all about. You won't get there. Understand this and concentrate on making your own life better. What do you want out of life? Happiness or perfection. Of course, you can't be happy all the time (that would be boring anyway), but you can try to achieve some level of happiness. Do it by understanding the failings of others (and yourself). Do it by loving other people, friends, family, etc. Choose a career that will make you (and not other people who think they know what is best for you) happy. Do not judge others. Be kind to yourself. And stop and smell the roses sometimes. Life will be over before you know it and the only thing you have are the experiences of right now. Of course, choose wisely. Don't choose experiences that will hurt you down the line, but have some good ones. I have found that the absolute best experiences weren't planned. They just happened and I let them happen. If I had been striving for perfection, those experiences likely would not have occurred.

You know, I'm not exactly where I thought I would be when I was younger. I'm not as rich as I wanted to be. I'm not as powerful as I wanted to be. I don't have as many friends as I wanted. I didn't go to the schools I wanted to go to. I haven't done all the things that I thought I would do. And not all the experiences I've had have been wonderful. But I have two wonderful kids who are healthy. I have a wonderful wife. I have a good job. None of these things are perfect, but my life is full and I have love in it. To ask for perfection would be to denigrate the wonderful things I do have. My life is good, but not perfect and not exactly what I would have chosen. But that is perfection.

As such, work hard. Play hard. Strive to be awesome, but understand that perfection isn't really perfection.

Answer 6

Its funny, people think there is no such thing as “perfect”. When someone thinks that perfection does not exist, they consequentially acknowledge that there are flaws. Perfection can assume the existence of flaws because perfection is to be entirely without any flaws, defects, or shortcomings. However, flaws cannot assume the non-existence of perfection, because in order to have flaws there has to be a flawless standard to measure them against; if what we commonly define as “perfection” does not exist, than what we commonly define as “flaws” might actually be perfection.

Many people would argue that striving for perfection is a lost cause, because it is impossible. I agree with the impossibility; however, I would not think it is a lost cause. I think that striving for perfection is worth the effort. Even though one might realize that they will never reach their goal, they will become a better person in the process. Virtue (the desire for honorable things) and excellence ought not to be ignored or thrown aside.

Answer 7

i dont think theres anything wrong with trying to achieve your dreams! as long as you work hard at what you do, you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to. that is my motto.
people say theres no such thing as perfection because the definition of perfection varies with each person--for instance, a guy i think is good looking could seem ugly to you, you know?
perfection , i believe, is your own ideal, and only you can achieve that.
i am behind you 100%! I totally agree with what you are saying. Go for your dreams, and dont let anyone tell you that you cant reach perfection. :)

Answer 8

Obviously you are disturbed about someone telling you about your obsession with perfection. Perfection is a word used when you have reached the ultimate level of comfort. Where everything works like clockwork and there are no flaws. That is your opinion and if you are comfortable with those notions that is fine by me. But are you pushing others into your opinions of perfection? Are you obsessed? Because that is not normal that is a person that will not be ever satiatied in life by anything. You reaching your goals is important, but what and who are you willing to drag over the coals to do it. Or are you just pushing yourself into disaster. You must realize by now we can only do the best we can with what we have, and we are not perfect so there will always be kinks in every situation. So take it easy and try to take it all with a grain of salt and things might ride smoother for you and you will reach your goals without so much strife.

Answer 9

How can any of us ever be perfect. What is perfection? It is a standard that someone thinks we should live to. What you take as perfection might not be perfection to another. So do you strive for your perfection or what someone else tell you is perfect. Its like asking is there such a thing as normal, or trying to be normal, I don't get it. just my opinion though

Answer 10

I think it's because since being perfect is impossible, if you try to be perfect you'll end up getting hurt or hurting yourself. Either that or you'll constantly feel disappointed and then you'll just get depressed. I think it's a good thing to work hard, though, but just try your best and not someone elses'.
There's nothing wrong with trying to achieve your goals, but that's a very different subject from striving for perfection.

Answer 11

We are human and we are flawed. You may have an idea of perfection in your mind but others will not think your perception is perfect. IMO there is no such thing as a perfect being. We will inadvertently hurt someone, somehow, somewhere along the way.