Mind and I - The search for perfection ..

The below , is a little discussion between my mind and I.
The topic - perfection.


August 12th, exactly two fortnights ago.
Time: 7:45 p.m.

Up next is the third speaker, said the Toastmaster that day as well, and up came this chap and muttered a few good words. Sat down to a nice warm round of applause.

That chap was me, and as I sat down that day on that very chair, my mind asked me a question.

MIND : Question time it said, and the question : That speech of yours, that ice breaker of yours, was that speech the perfect ice breaker or could you have done better ?”

PERSON : I didn’t know what to say. At that instant however came the need to define what this 10 letter word meant: “perfection”. One week later, and I still had few answers. I asked five different people, got five different answers. Referred three dictionaries, and believe it or not, I got three different definitions.

According to the definition which hit me the most however, was that of the Webster’s Online Dictionary. It defined perfection, and I quote, “Perfection is a state of being without a flaw or defect, of doing something the best ( perfectly ).”

MIND : That was good. Very good. Next question : Why do we crave for it ? Isn’t perfection something unattainable ?

PERSON : You know I’ve always wondered why we ever got into this addiction to perfection. One of my friends told me this theory and I agreed to it: From the times of Adam and Eve, we all know that as humans, we are characteristically “imperfect”. And we also know that as humans, we have this craving to be what we are not. And simple as it sounds, that is exactly why, we crave, to be perfect in what we do. Perfect in what we are.

MIND : Good one there, wasn’t it ? Well then answer this: Is perfection ever possible in human life, or is it just a theoretical concept with no place in our day to day lives?

PERSON : Saturday 16 August sitting at home in the evening, I watched my answer unfurl in front of me, or rather as I would put it, ran in front of me. In exactly 9.69 seconds, Usain Bolt and his stunning 100m gold medal run at the Beijing Olympics put my mind to rest. That to me, was perfect. The perfect race. And I discovered too then that history indeed had many examples of this phenomena we called perfection.

MIND : Oh OK, wait a minute. That was Usain Bolt. So before they think of this as a sermon on the art of perfection, Stop.
Let me inform you that there are some things in life that can perhaps never be perfect.
The perfect job for example. The perfect body. The perfect computer. And for all of us working folk, the perfect boss?
And yes, Mr. Bachelor, What do you think of the perfect life partner, husband, wife ?

PERSON : A ‘right ,I will not answer that question of the perfect life partner, because I can already see a smile on the faces of the married ones here, and I‘m a little bit confused about what these smiles actually say.

No but seriously, as I thought of all this, things were slowly coming full circle.

I knew what perfection was, knew that it was possible and not just a concept; I also had in front of me limitations of this perfect theory now that I’d realized everything in life couldn’t be perfect.

And then I got the answer. There was no such thing as a perfect speech. Every speech had its flaws, every speech had its own very “perfect” moments, and every speech had its own beauty. Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the French writer once said, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

My mind and I were slowly becoming one. The question cleared in every sense. Ah, as my mind would put it, things were now perfect.