Pixelated Perfection

P.O Box 1540, Albany Western Australia 6331
Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418
Email abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Pixelated Perfection
In the third week of November a beauty contest began in Italy. So what? Don't all sorts of beauty contests take place all the time? Miss Australia? Miss America? Miss World? Miss Universe? But this one is a bit unique. "Miss Digital World" will be a virtual beauty only. She will exist only as pixels tweaked to perfection on a computer. Franz Cerami, creator of the real-world competition over un-real beauty, said, "Miss Digital World is the search for a contemporary ideal of beauty - seen through virtual reality." His contest set me to thinking. Let's suppose the contest is over already. Let's suppose that practically everyone who sees the pixelated perfection of the winning image agrees that she is truly beautiful. Stunning. Absolutely perfect! However, since nobody will be able to find her in the real world, let's further suppose that women set out to copy the virtual beauty's perfection. Some have surgery. Many more alter their hair and makeup. Still more feel some degree of frustration at falling so short of the ideal! Friend, if such a thing happened, there would be nothing new or uncommon about it. You see, long before computers could generate pixel-perfect beauty, human beings found ways to frustrate ourselves with unrealistic and unattainable expectations. It is bad enough that we often see others through the lenses of perfectionism. It is even worse that some of us drive ourselves to emotional and spiritual collapse. Sadly, perfectionists get the impression early in life that they have value only as they achieve and impress others. So they feel "totally worthless" if they can't do things just right and win everyone's approval. Naturally, this means that when they fail to achieve an unreasonable goal, they denigrate their value as persons. At the same time, they feel compelled to hide their weaknesses for fear of being rejected. Consequently, equating imperfection with failure, they take very few risks. And as they build their lives around avoiding failure and criticism, they miss countless opportunities to learn and grow. When you stop to think about it, the flawless beauty, perfect job, faultless mate, ideal church - there is no such thing! So, instead of searching for or trying to be what cannot exist in the real world, we would be wiser and happier to focus on doing tasks well rather than on results alone. How important it is for each of us to realize that we can neither achieve or demand perfection. It's also important to learn from our mistakes rather than live with constant self-judgment. Friend, in your life's journey, don't stop setting goals, striving for excellence, and working hard. Just don't judge yourself by a standard so unattainable that all the joy God has willed for you is forfeited along the way. Indeed, the only way you and I can achieve real success in life is to begin with life's realities - its limitations and changes, its surprises and unexpected turns, its timed nature and death. So if you would like some help in achieving this, I'd be happy to send you a FREE copy of THE SUCCESS PLAN. My postal address is: P.O. Box 1540, Albany WA 6331. Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418. Email: abl-alb@omninet.net.au Have a great day!

In the third week of November a beauty contest began in Italy. So what? Don't all sorts of beauty contests take place all the time? Miss Australia? Miss America? Miss World? Miss Universe? But this one is a bit unique. "Miss Digital World" will be a virtual beauty only. She will exist only as pixels tweaked to perfection on a computer.

Franz Cerami, creator of the real-world competition over un-real beauty, said, "Miss Digital World is the search for a contemporary ideal of beauty - seen through virtual reality." His contest set me to thinking.

Let's suppose the contest is over already. Let's suppose that practically everyone who sees the pixelated perfection of the winning image agrees that she is truly beautiful. Stunning. Absolutely perfect! However, since nobody will be able to find her in the real world, let's further suppose that women set out to copy the virtual beauty's perfection. Some have surgery. Many more alter their hair and makeup. Still more feel some degree of frustration at falling so short of the ideal!

Friend, if such a thing happened, there would be nothing new or uncommon about it. You see, long before computers could generate pixel-perfect beauty, human beings found ways to frustrate ourselves with unrealistic and unattainable expectations. It is bad enough that we often see others through the lenses of perfectionism. It is even worse that some of us drive ourselves to emotional and spiritual collapse.

Sadly, perfectionists get the impression early in life that they have value only as they achieve and impress others. So they feel "totally worthless" if they can't do things just right and win everyone's approval. Naturally, this means that when they fail to achieve an unreasonable goal, they denigrate their value as persons. At the same time, they feel compelled to hide their weaknesses for fear of being rejected. Consequently, equating imperfection with failure, they take very few risks. And as they build their lives around avoiding failure and criticism, they miss countless opportunities to learn and grow.

When you stop to think about it, the flawless beauty, perfect job, faultless mate, ideal church - there is no such thing! So, instead of searching for or trying to be what cannot exist in the real world, we would be wiser and happier to focus on doing tasks well rather than on results alone. How important it is for each of us to realize that we can neither achieve or demand perfection. It's also important to learn from our mistakes rather than live with constant self-judgment.

Friend, in your life's journey, don't stop setting goals, striving for excellence, and working hard. Just don't judge yourself by a standard so unattainable that all the joy God has willed for you is forfeited along the way. Indeed, the only way you and I can achieve real success in life is to begin with life's realities - its limitations and changes, its surprises and unexpected turns, its timed nature and death. So if you would like some help in achieving this, I'd be happy to send you a FREE copy of THE SUCCESS PLAN. My postal address is: P.O. Box 1540, Albany WA 6331. Phone/Fax: (08) 98 418 418. Email: abl-alb@omninet.net.au

Have a great day!