Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Nothing will ever improve if we keep trying to make things better.

10 comments:

  1. You know Marty, we have a quote saying that “the excellent is the enemy of the good”. I spent such a long time to really understand the exact meaning of it, but as soon as I was able to catch it, my life became much easier! The problem is to always put this statement into action, as I’m quite a perfectionist kind of person…

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  2. This is so sadly true. I say sadly because I've spent the last few days trying to fix a situation that I just cannot fix. And I have to accept it. I just need to let time go by and see what happens. That's it. As always, thanks for the wisdom.

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  3. I've made it worse by trying to make it better a few times.

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  4. One factor might be context: some things might get worse, like picking at a scab and getting it infected; some things might get better, like the development of penicillin. Either way though, I find that idolising the future and grand narratives of progress is a bit like picking a scab.

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  5. "How can I make this circle more round?"

    Someone asked me this question once and it gave me pause. We were questioning the thought, "Things will never get better." We realized things will never get better because there is nothing but perfection, and perfection can't get any better.

    We block the natural unfolding of beneficence by trying to improve things, since efforts to improve are founded on notions of scarcity and end up reinforcing notions of deficiency.

    Thanks for this pungent aphorism n.p.

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  6. This sounds a bit like Yogi Berra.

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  7. I'm a go getter, so it's hard to let it happen sometimes. This is a good reminder.

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  8. Is good to have a vision of what we want together with hope and faith. And whatever manifest we have to accept it as is, since is our creation. Trying to change it is like swimming against the current.

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  9. Of course, 'improvements' are much like beauty--in the eye of the beholder. As a self-professsed 'do gooder' I try to improve things all the time--and I like to think some things are getting better! :-)

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