The best achievements in life are achieved poco a poco. That is, little by little. Be patient, work hard... little by little you will succeed.
If your life were a story, what would the plot be? What is the hero's quest? What are the main themes? How will it end?
Perfection vs. Purpose
A number of years ago someone shared the idea of life being like a jigsaw puzzle with pictures on both sides of the pieces. On the one side is a picture of you, and on the other side is everything else in the world. The application was that if you try to solve the picture puzzle that is the world, you will never be able to get it worked out, but if you put the picture together that is you, then behold, you will then be able to see the world aright.
About a dozen years ago I began suspecting there was a flaw in this thinking. This is not to say we shouldn't strive to improve ourselves, but if our focus is on making our selves better, whether more "together" or less neurotic or more "holy" and unblemished, how far does one go with it? You can make perfection a lifetime quest and still never get there.
In actuality, it may be that without a clear purposefulness, we lack the motivation to truly deal with our shortcomings, imperfections, character defects. Having a defined purpose gives us a cause, power to remove hindrances to our personal life aims.
Example. You are too loose with your tongue and don't care that it offends people. You find that it has cost you a couple jobs. You have children and have a strong motivation to provide for them, so you deal with this issue. You "improve yourself" because there is a higher purpose involved.
A good life operates on both fronts, improving our selves and making a difference in the world, in the lives of those around us whom we serve.
I guess blogs are the same as lives in some ways. Poco a poco... little by little we add strings of words, trying to identify a plot amidst the themes. And wondering where it will end.
Have a good day.
"Poco a poco" is a good solid principle to get ahead on, if you don't get overwhelmed by a tornado, or flood, or radiation from some nuclear disaster somewhere or other, or bombed indiscriminately by some rogue nation, or sold down the drain by some greedy and totally unscrupulous financial planner pretending to be your friend ...
ReplyDeleteAs John Lennon said, “Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.”
You are correct on this.
ReplyDeleteSometimes when I write any assertion I am simultaneously struck by its polar opposite. This occasionally paralyzes the ability to say or do anything...
The actual quote I was thinking of when I wrote poco a poco was a line from Andre Gide's diary about writing a little bit at a time. Some writers go in great bursts, and he said he didn't or couldn't work that way. So I was applying that to life. But yes, things can hit and hit hard and set us back...
completely agree.
ReplyDeleteu gave me a new mantra, poco by poco :)