The Perfectionist...

And so I thought... are perfectionists doomed to punish themselves with disappointments everytime they realised nothing in this world can be perfect? After thinking about this for some time, I realised that even if one has the purest and most compassionate heart in the world, one is still not perfect. For example, if this person sees his beloved drowning together with an ex-convict, who would he save if he only has the ability to save one of them? By saving his beloved, he has indeed done a good deed because he has saved a person, especially so if the person he saved is a good person who will continue to contribute to this world. However, it can also be said that he lets the ex-convict die, or to put it more bluntly he chose for the ex-convict to die. It certainly seems a little perverse if we think in such a way. Now, if he saved the ex-convict instead, he has also done a good deed by saving a person. Furthermore, it can be argued that he has saved the ex-convict's soul as well because the ex-convict now has a chance to repay the world and redeem himself. Nevertheless, it also means that he chose for his beloved to die.

The point I'm trying to bring across is as long as we are confronted with choices, there will always be opportunity costs, (sorry for using an economic term) and as long as there are opportunity costs things that appear perfect on one hand may not be so on the other. Now, if we think about perfection, the most likely candidate will be God. Does that mean God doesn't have any choices if he is perfect? Can we also argue that God doesn't have any freedom since he doesn't have any choices? Or is it that God doesn't need choices and hence freedom? Of course, it is also possible that man's logic is fallacious in the first place and therefore unsuitable to discern God's nature.

Actually, I used to be a perfectionist and sure enough, I've encountered so many disappointments along the way that I've also become rather pessimistic. However, I still believe in magical moments when we can see the true quality of human kindness. For example, when some Dutch took a very big risk of secretly housing Jews during the holocaust, they really did it out of pure compassion and not for any rewards or gratitude, especially since they would be humiliated and disgraced if they were found out by the Nazis. (Please read Anne Frank's diary, it is definitely worth reading) A similar thing happened in Singapore recently too when a construction supervisor sacrificed himself to save his workers during the Nicoll Highway collapse. I'm quite sure during that split second of life remaining he was thinking only about saving others and not about glory or fame. Its is such unpretentious kindness, when one does kind acts purely to help others and not to create a kind image for others or himself to see, that truely defines these magical moments. Though I cannot deny that perfections can never exist in this world, especially in the long term for all relationships, these magical moments serve to remind us of the greatness we are capable of achieving. Therefore, this world is not all just a desert with harsh winds and merciless heat waves, it is also a world where an oasis exists in each and everyone of us.