Learn to Love the Imperfect

This is an interesting article about one family's struggle with the evils of commercial television and the ghetto of its Christian alternative. But I just love this snippet:

In The Paradox of Choice, Swarthmore College sociologist Barry Schwartz asserts that choice overload is turning us into a nation of "maximizers," for whom only the best will do in every area of life. The downside is that we are less satisfied with our choices because the stakes are so much higher than they've ever been in the past.

Schwartz recounts a visit to the Gap to buy a pair of jeans. Although he was overwhelmed by the volume of available choices, the fact that he could purchase something with ultimate fit and comfort made anything less than perfection unacceptable. What had once been a relatively mundane errand was suddenly imbued with significance.

This is so true. We've created a cult of choice and perfection in our culture that is suffocating to life itself. We're no longer content (that's a bad word these days) with anything. There's always something better, something cheaper, something more "fulfilling." We have unlimited choices that seemingly leads to a "perfect" solution. Yet we're always left wanting more.

Next time you're making dinner or shopping for clothes, settle for something that's not quite right, something that doesn't quite meet your overheated expectations. Then be thankful for what you have, thankful for the imperfection that reflects our true selves.

I think this is why there is so little true tolerance in the world today - we're conditioned to receive perfection (at least in our society), and when we don't we are disappointed and discouraged.