Hopelessly flawed

I switched on the TV and heard a character in a Movie saying 'We are all hopelessly flawed'. It hit a chord because I had been in a hopeless mood regarding my own flaws… the flaws of having an overactive brain, of being a critic, of being opinionated, philosophical, of having an ego, of being laid back (or call it lazy), maybe even talkative, maybe possessing intensity that draws intense situations(!), slightly obssessive compulsive… and many more flaws, that seem to be an obstruction to peace, within and without.

The character in the Movie then broke into a poem which in essence asked nature to keep its pristine perfection to itself and give him (the poet) the crowded city!! The poem seemed to reassure me that I need not strive to be perfect or have a perfect life. The world has a place for imperfection too...When it comes to relationships; it is really unrealistic to ask for perfection. At best we can be sincere in our approach to others....in our own unique imperfect way...

Come to think of it, the world in fact has never been perfect especially when we look at all things with our perspective. Then we notice that, the woods usually don’t come without biting insects and blood sucking mosquitoes, the city with its comforts does not come without its crowd and pollution; or consider this, youth has so little in terms of essential maturity, whereas wisdom and maturity more often doesn’t have the glory of youth. Even virtues are attached with vice, for example, it has been noted that intelligent people also tend to be aggressive. So just see what that spells for close relationships! It would mean an intelligent partner will often be uncomfortably aggressive, a simple person could prove boring, a wise partner may seem too proud and preachy, a beautiful partner too arrogant, a talkative one could cause discord while a silent one could exasperate you. Show me a virtue and I will show you the attached vice! (...has somebody already said that?).Even in terms of what we seek, if it is an excess of money, we give up the joys of leisure, if it is an excess of knowledge we give up blissful ignorance. (Yes!.. even knowledge is not for the weak hearted as knowing and perceiving can hurt, and so it can be a vice rather than virtue to possess {if you value peace more} unless you are emotionally strong enough).

Recently I saw the movie ‘A beautiful life’ which shows how a father helps his son through a war. He does not reveal to him that it is a real war going on around him, rather he says that it is a game and for all the precautions that he makes his son take, he tells him that there are points, and the more points he makes, the more the chances of winning the game. The result is that the son survives the war … totally emotionally unscathed! The imperfect situation of war was converted into a beautiful game. Isn’t that how we should deal with all the imperfections within and around us….closing our mind to its interpretation as an imperfection and seeing it rather as that factor which makes life the beautiful game it really is.

So cheers to my imperfections, as that is what makes me what I am. Peace or no peace, valued or not valued, understood or not understood, tolerated or not tolerated, I am still perfect in my imperfections.
I too appreciate people according to their sincerity, not perfection as I genuinely feel perfection is totally overrated. Imperfection is quite obviously the real nature, beauty and individuality of everything that constitutes the perceived world and perfection could actually make the world too predictable and so boring. So everything is really hopelessly and ……actually thankfully …. flawed.

Taking Calculated Risks

"Fear of Danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than Danger itself" Daniel Defoe

Sometimes we need to take risks in life rather than living in fear...of the toxins in everything that we intake or use. A life lost a bit early due to certain risks taken is better than a life lost to fear....

But it is important to take 'calculated' risks. There is no denying that the environment we live in today is very polluted. The air we breathe, the food we eat, the cosmetics we use etc are all taking away years from our lives...

But we forget that at the same time the immense progress made in medicine, discovery of cures and prevention for formerly fatal diseases(like TB)...all this has added years to our life...

In the year 1900, the average life expectancy of the world was 30yrs, and by 1985 it was 62yrs. Now 2010 estimate stands at 67 years.

What I am intending to say is we have an extra 30 or so years gifted by developments in science.... then is it really important to be paranoid about the toxins that we take in? We may increase say two years to our life by the care we take to keep away the toxins...like...not buying grapes and apples fearing they are coated with pesticides, scared of the white cauliflower (must be dipped in Malathion) scared of even medicines and supplements knowing that they too contain preservatives that could be very harmful, could possibly accumulate in tissues, not using any cosmetics at all, worried about the chlorine in the swimming pool, the UV at noon....But look at it this way...Don't we reduce comparatively, say four years from our life by the paranoia and stress concerned with all the caution and care! Aren't we thus compromising on the joys of life and added years in life that can come only from being a bit care free? Not a good deal..is it? Isn't it then better to adopt the midway...that is even use 'caution' in moderation?

So lets be careful .... but lets also not overdo it. Lets take reasonable care but lets also be reasonably carefree.......