What does "perfection is my enemy" mean in this song?

  • Thread starter Thread starter westNwewaxation
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
W

westNwewaxation

Guest
At twenty years of age I’m still looking for a dream
A war’s already waged for my destiny
But You’ve already won the battle
And You’ve got great plans for me
Though I can’t always see

(Chorus)
‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
BUT PERFECTION IS MY ENEMY
On my own I’m so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I’m free to be me

When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out
My life would turn out right, and I’d make it here somehow
But things don’t always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt

(Chorus)

And you’re free to be you

Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I’ve got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I’ve got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe
Even though

(Chorus)

Album: My Paper Heart
Artist: Francesca Battistelli
youtube.com/watch?v=EKSQjSdU8VA
 
Thanks. My reading of the link, where it says no improvement happens if you are shooting for perfect, kind of makes me think it is an avoidable pitfall though. I guess I could see where somebody might be tempted to give up or just get too down on themselves if they kept expecting perfection of themselves. I guess it is part of the “both-and” of Christianity, like we have to strive for perfection and not despair when we fail…
 
VeritasLuxMea said:
There is an aphorism: “Perfect is the enemy of good.”

I suppose that’s a possible meaning, but you would have to ask the writer. 🙂
Click to expand...
The version of this that I know is from the old Soviet military industry, “Better is the enemy of good enough” (in Russian I believe it is “Lushche – vrag dostatochnogo;” if you can correct this, please do so). This contrasts their way of doing business (design something, engineer it, produce it, and put it in the field) with the notorious American way of repeatedly reengineering things until a new airplane (for example) takes 15 years to come on-line and costs twice as much as originally projected.

I can testify to this in my own life. I play the euphonium, and when I listen to euphers on eutube (there’s a pun there somewhere), I’m listening to professionals whose playing is so close to perfect that I can’t detect any mistakes. However, when I’m playing, for example, “Yellow Rose of Texas Variations” ( youtube.com/watch?v=rh1kHWpchnw ), if I get hung up on the perfection of the pros and try to sound like them, not only do I fail in that attempt, I’m not working on playing it as well as I can play it, at my level of technique. Perfection is the enemy of what should be good enough for me.

Of course, this aphorism fails when we consider the Christian life. We are called to imitate Christ, Who is Perfection personified. Can we succeed in this life? Probably not. Does that mean we should quit trying? What’s the alternative to not trying live a Christian life? You decide.
 
westNwewaxation said:
Thanks. My reading of the link, where it says no improvement happens if you are shooting for perfect, kind of makes me think it is an avoidable pitfall though. I guess I could see where somebody might be tempted to give up or just get too down on themselves if they kept expecting perfection of themselves. I guess it is part of the “both-and” of Christianity, like we have to strive for perfection and not despair when we fail…
Click to expand...
Sure, well, I think it works for me, personally. I inherited perfectionist thinking from my mother. She’s your stereotypical perfectionist: sweat all the small stuff and work like a dog until everything is exactly the way you want it, and nearly have a heart attack in the process. I’m not sure if people realize this but there is definitely more than one type of perfectionist, as the perfectionism that I inherited from here was a bit different than the stereotype. Mine took/takes the form of fear of failure, turning down opportunities if I’m not absolutely convinced that I live up to a standard.

Again I’m not confident that this is the meaning the writer was intending, just a possibility.
40.png
DaveBj:
Of course, this aphorism fails when we consider the Christian life. We are called to imitate Christ, Who is Perfection personified. Can we succeed in this life? Probably not. Does that mean we should quit trying? What’s the alternative to not trying live a Christian life? You decide.
Click to expand...
As far as Jesus is concerned, yes, we are called to model our lives after His, but if/when we fail to live up to that, we are to forgive ourselves.We can strive for something that isn’t necessarily realistic, but forgiveness will be necessary to maintain our sanity.
 
If we wait until we (or our circumstances) are perfect before we begin to do God’s work on earth we will never begin.
 
“We are doomed to strive for that which we can never obtain.”

that’s what it means
 
I actually enjoy this song.

My take on what the songwriter means is “perfectionism my enemy”.

Jesus tells us to be perfect, as our Heavenly Father is perfect. He did not tell us to be perfectionists. In fact, perfectionism is a danger to a healthy spiritual life.
 
"]*
DaveBj said:
The version of this that I know is from the old Soviet military industry, “Better is the enemy of good enough”

I can testify to this in my own life. I play the euphonium, and when I listen to euphers on eutube, I’m listening to professionals whose playing is so close to perfect that I can’t detect any mistakes… if I get hung up on the perfection of the pros and try to sound like them, not only do I fail in that attempt, I’m not working on playing it as well as I can play it, at my level of technique. Perfection is the enemy of what should be good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks, DaveBj,
I needed that. I, too, play an instrument and can relate. But more recently, I felt shame
after the way I shared some opinions at a meeting yesterday. Maybe because I was judging others a little, I think I know better how to do something. I don’t want to create the wrong impression. I open my mouth way too fast and often say too much, then feel terrible about it afterward. It is really hard to keep my mouth shut, but I want to be a nicer person to work with and be around. Help!!
 
TerrySong said:
"]*
DaveBj;10796938:
The version of this that I know is from the old Soviet military industry, “Better is the enemy of good enough”

I can testify to this in my own life. I play the euphonium, and when I listen to euphers on eutube, I’m listening to professionals whose playing is so close to perfect that I can’t detect any mistakes… if I get hung up on the perfection of the pros and try to sound like them, not only do I fail in that attempt, I’m not working on playing it as well as I can play it, at my level of technique. Perfection is the enemy of what should be good enough for me.
Click to expand...
Thanks, DaveBj,
I needed that. I, too, play an instrument and can relate. But more recently, I felt shame
after the way I shared some opinions at a meeting yesterday. Maybe because I was judging others a little, I think I know better how to do something. I don’t want to create the wrong impression. I open my mouth way too fast and often say too much, then feel terrible about it afterward. It is really hard to keep my mouth shut, but I want to be a nicer person to work with and be around. Help!!
Click to expand...
Been there, done that, and I’ve got the bite marks to prove it. Sometimes it takes a while to learn that a closed mouth gathers no foot. It did for me :rolleyes:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top