“We are not perfect, but we should try.”

The truth is I’ve always talked a good game, but my performance comes up short. I know what to do, I know what’s right and what’s necessary, and if you come to me for advice, well by god I’ll advise the hell right outta you. But I have a hard time following that advice myself. Hard time nothing-- I flat out can’t do it. I should but I can’t. And while I usually know the right thing to do, usually know what needs doing, I don’t always do it. For someone who places so much emphasis on willpower, I’m disappointingly weak-willed.

I judge everyone-- the whole world-- so harshly. I put in place standards that no one could meet, least of all myself. I may not be wrong, but I am a hypocrite, and a fool besides. No one can live up to the standards I hold, not all the time. We’re none of us perfect. I know that. Of course I know that, I do.

But imperfect is not the same as imperfectible. The world is not perfect, but it can be, and so can we. Maybe not all the time, not always, not as we are, but we have the capacity in us for perfection. Perfection is real, it exists in the world. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve done it myself. Not for long-- minutes maybe, seconds-- but there it was, and if it happened once it can happen again. Our persons, our lives, our world can all be made perfect. This is within our reach.

I believe that sure as I believe the sun will rise in the morning. It is unquestionable. We’re not perfect, but maybe once, maybe someday. So we keep trying.

That’s all we can do. We keep trying.