Striving for Perfection

“The Birth Mark” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a husband named Alymer who tries to make his wife Georgiana perfect. Georgiana is almost perfect to him, but has a birth mark on her face that Alymer believes is an imperfection. Not everyone believes Georgiana’s birth mark is an imperfection, but these people actually believe the birth mark enhances her beauty. At the end of the “Birth Mark” we see that Georgiana becomes perfect, but it comes at the cost of her life. The question I am wondering is whether perfection is something we should actually strive for?

            We can be perfect at activities like perfect attendance in class, getting the highest possible grades, and even having a perfect record in any sport. There are many other ways for us to try to be perfect in life, but the catch is that no one in life will be able to be perfect at life. There are too many complications and alternatives that will get in the way of living a perfect life. Even if we think someone like a celebrity has a perfect life there are many behind the scene implications that cause them to live an imperfect life. Friends close to us can seem like they have everything figured out, but in reality they to deal with imperfections in their lives. I believe that we have pressure in this day and age to be perfect. When we have to show our grades when looking for a job they only care what’s on paper and not we learn. We all have those things that hold us back from living that perfect life. These obstacles that hold us back are important for our lives because if we were perfect there would be no motivation to be better and strive for perfection.  

            Whenever I think about striving for perfection I always think about Kobe Bryant. Growing up as a Laker fan I have heard multiple times that Kobe Bryant is trying to reach perfection. Even Kobe has said he is striving for perfection, “I’m chasing perfection.” It’s as simple as that, but what is perfection for someone like Kobe? Is it to win as many NBA titles as Michael Jordan? Is it to score as many points as he can possibly score? Or could it be to miss as many shots as possible? Of course the last one is not what Kobe has in mind when it comes to reaching perfection, but where is the line that he has to reach for perfection? Kobe has already sustained so many injuries that if there is a line he has to cross to reach perfection Kobe might have to crawl because his legs do not have much left in them. But this is what fascinates me about Kobe; he already has done so much as a player, yet he still continues to do more and try to accomplish more. A lot of players would have quit after acquiring an injury like his, but his strive for perfection keeps himself going.

            Having a perfect life is impossible, but to strive for perfection is important to have in our lives. I’m not saying to take a potion to get rid of any flaws and then die; I just think perfection pushes us to become the best possible person we can be. If we did not have flaws there would be no reason to try to be better. Our flaws make us who we are as a people. Our imperfections set us apart from one another. This is why striving for perfection is important because the obstacles we face are different which ultimately makes us unique.

            I think striving for perfection is something we all need to do. But does that mean Alymer was right to try to make his wife perfect? In his eyes she was almost perfect and needed to get rid of the birth mark to achieve perfection. In this situation I believe Alymer was wrong because he tried to reach perfection through someone else and not strive for it himself. Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” We will never reach perfection, but by striving for perfection we can live an excellent life.