By Benoit Papineau
David & Goliath – Insecurity versus Perfection
Whether we have faith in His existence or not, we all have heard about that ultimate Being, Creator of everything; the only One that could achieve perfection.
From our education, most of us were also made to believe that perfection was humanly impossible and it became difficult for us to even conceive what perfection may be. We even have learned that perfection was beyond our ability to comprehend it. Can you imagine?…
We don’t know what perfection is for sure, but we are certain that we are not and can not be perfect. How about that?
Believe it or not, these beliefs are quite common in our present society and when they are combined with a strong desire to achieve greatness in a competition and artistic field like ballroom dancing, where judges determine success, an inevitable situation often emerges.
A competitor believing that perfection is humanly impossible could get on the competition floor assuming that judges expect it.
Of course, the only possible outcome would be that, in the dancer’s mind he or she could only succeed at failing. In most cases, this is how occurs the birth of insecurity; the anchored feeling of being incapacitated by incompetence while competence would be a requirement.
This situation opens the door to two possibilities:
The first possibility is that another form of artistry would be born; the art of deception; the need to become a con artist; feeling insecure while acting confident. Most of the time, that leads to a fake.
The second possibility is the creation of a battle in the dancer’s mind, where insecurity would be confronted with perfection; where the feeling of being small would be confronted with an elusive and inexplicable giant called perfection, a little bit like in the myth of David and Goliath.
But if I remember correctly, David came out victorious.
How can insecurity conquer perfection and end-up victorious?
“”ION” as a suffix”
Is perfection really unreachable ? Well, if we persist at not knowing what it is, our chances at answering this question will remain as slim as our chances of winning Blackpool at the age of 150 (years old).
What is perfection? Assumingly, only God knows, and His silent ways of communicating with us are unlikely to enlighten our comprehension. Let’s leave perfection aside for the moment and instead, let’s concentrate on a general rule of the English language.
In the English language, when a noun finishes with the suffix “ion” it is usually representative of an action of a process.
Examples:
Action means: the art of acting. In this case, it sounds a little repetitive although the word is the foundation for the rule. Let’s try other nouns.
Transformation: the act or process of transforming.
Digestion: the act or process of digesting
Perception: the act or process of perceiving
Animation: the act or process of animating
Perforation: the act or process of making a hole
Restoration: the act or process of restoring
While all those words could have achieved their final stages and appear static, like a perforation in a sheet of paper, these final stages could only have been achieved by actions or movements leading to that final state.
Let’s try other words to see if the rule needing movement is consistent.
Combination: the act or process of combining
Resolution: the act or process of resolving
Recreation: the act or process of recreating
Solution: the act or process of solving
Approbation: the act or process of approving
Attention: the act or process of attending
Activation: the act or process of activating
Confirmation: the act or process of confirming
There just seems to be no exception (exception: the act or process of excluding) to the rule and the reason is quite simple. If you look carefully, you will realize that those nouns were all created out of verbs and verbs always indicate actions.
How about perfection? What is it? Let’s try to apply the rule to perfection in that same linguistic context.
Perfection would mean: the act or process of perfecting.
In the context of ballroom dancing, there could be a great value to those nouns finishing in “ion”, (including perfection) . Ballroom dancing also is about action, process, movement.
“The other side of the coin”
On the other end, in the same linguistic context, nouns finishing with the suffix “ty” usually describe states. For example: unity, simplicity, complexity, gravity, enormity, infinity…
In those cases, the nouns do not describe acts, they just describe facts that do not require any action. They just describe immobile or inert facts or qualities and if you look carefully, you will realize that the reason is equally simple. Those nouns were all created out of adjectives and not verbs.
Unity: the fact or quality of being united.
Enormity: the fact or quality of being enormous.
Infinity: the fact or quality of being infinite.
How about insecurity? Insecurity: the fact or quality of being insecure…!
That doesn’t look very good, does it?!…
“David and Goliath”
Well, if in your personal battle, David is insecurity, while Goliath is perfection, the odds are on Goliath’s favor; I would assume, at least: one million to one. Rarely have we seen a minuscule static fact defeat a gigantic act. Rarely have we seen a minuscule dead leaf triumph over a gale force wind. After thoughts, the odds may be greater than a million to one.
“Change of strategy”
Since victories are always acquired by actions, there is just no chance than a noun finishing in “ty” could end up victorious over a noun finishing in “ion”, unless the word was invincibility. Even then, the victory would not be acquire by invincibility itself, but by the weakness of the action executed against it. There is therefore no chance for insecurity to conquer perfection. Insecurity needs a change of plan.
An idea could be to study our complex brain and find a way to eliminate insecurity altogether. It would take decades and would eliminates the chances of achieving a quick success.
Of course, it would be another idea to fake the appearance of confidence, but, as everyone knows, confidence is never determine by decision; it is always and only determine by experience and more specifically, by a series of successful experiences. Confidence is a consequence not usually produce by a wish.
It is exactly when we look at those personal everyday experiences that we can discover a simpler understanding of perfection; that giant that needs to be conquer and where insecurity would lose its reason to be. In fact, all of us have experienced perfection millions of times, but since our upbringing made us believe that it was humanly impossible, we all have overlooked those millions of personal successes.
What is perfection? when the things that are supposed to happen, happen, it is perfection. Here are a few examples that will make you understand that simple truth.
When I want to start my car, I put the key into the ignition and turn it. If the car starts, it is perfect because what was supposed to happen, happens.
When I have bad breath, I should brush my teeth. When I brush my teeth, it is perfect because what was supposed to happen, happens.
When I am tired, I want to go to bed to sleep. When I go to bed and fall asleep, it is perfect because what was supposed to happen, happens.
I am driving on the highway and the taillights of the car I am following, light up. When I put my foot on the brakes and my car stops, it is perfect because what was supposed to happen, happens.
When the man in the car I am following, puts his foot on the brakes, his tail lights should light up. When they do, it is perfect because what is supposed to happen, happens.
Before I dance, I should take a shower for pleasing the sense of smells of others. When I take a shower, it is perfect, because what was supposed to happen, happens.
When I need oxygen, I should breath, when I breath, it is perfect because what is supposed to happen, happens.
If I want to improve, I should practice. When I practice, it is perfect because what is supposed to happen, happens.
When I am in a danger zone, I should walk away. When I walk away, it is perfect because what should happen, happens.
Would you like more examples, or do you see the point? Perfection can be much simpler than we were made to believe. It is accessible to all of us and we all have experienced it over and over and if you look carefully, again, you will realize that in all those examples of perfection, actions were always necessary to achieve the perfect results. In all the above cases, all actions were in fact very simple. None of the actions was complicated and nevertheless perfection was achieved.
Now, think about the opposite. Imagine that in all the above cases, the necessary actions were not executed. Imagine that what was supposed to happen, did not.
Imagine following a car on the highway. Imagine the driver of the car in front putting the foot on the brake pedal and his tail lights not lighting up…
It would be hell. Imagine the tail lights of the car you are following, lighting up. You put your foot on the brake pedal and nothing happens…
It would be hell. Imagine not brushing your teeth or not taking a shower and see everyone running away from you. t would be creating doubts in your mind about yourself.
Rejection feels like hell.
Imagine needing to walk away from danger and being paralyzed for a moment or being so preoccupied by something else that you can’t even sense the danger and omit to walk…
It would be hell.
Imagine needing to leave with your car. You turn you key in the ignition and nothing happens…
It would be hell.
Imagine being tired, going to bed and being unable to fall asleep; staying awake all night…
It would be hell.
imagine needing to breath. Imagine the urgency to inhale while someone holds your head under water…
Yes, you are right…
It would be hell.
Of course, all those hells would make you feel like if the world was an unsafe place; a place that is not secure, an insecure place!!!?
Insecurity is the consequence of a form of hell, where the things that should happen, don’t.
Perfection is when the things that should happen, happen.
Insecurity is the consequence of not having executed the appropriate action at the appropriate time.
Perfection is the consequence of having executed the appropriate action at the appropriate time. How funny!! “Appropriate action at the appropriate time.” That sounds a lot like ballroom dancing, does it, where everything is about action and where none of the actions is very complicated?
Put your foot here, put your foot there, move your arm here, move your arm there, stand up straight, ……….
Perfection is not an inexplicable attribute exclusively belonging to an inaccessible Creator. Look at His creations, where the nucleus of all atoms endlessly spins. Look at all the planets, their satellites and all the stars also continuously spinning. The galaxies also spin.
A single and simple action: spinning; always spinning, only spinning. the same action repeated over and over, as if the universe was practicing, and nevertheless, change is always in occurrence and we call that evolution; inevitable evolution through repetition.
I guess, spin is supposed to happen and it does. Isn’t that perfect?
Perfection with its “ion” suffix, means: the act or process of perfecting and is simply an equivalent or synonym to the word “practicing”.
Is that the appropriate action?
Ideoligical reference “The Mosquito and the Sign of the Cross” Chapter: Repent – Perfection
by Benoit Papineau
