Our Perfect Lives

In my opinion, the teaching that states that we should learn from our mistakes has become a bit of a cliché; however, it has correctly proven in almost every situation in which it has been present in my life. For instance, the manner in which I manage my time for homework has always been to procrastinate. Although I recognize my fault, I have yet to fix it. I have come to understand that my true mistake is to not keep the promise I made myself to stop procrastinating. This is not a mistake (because a mistake is supposedly something you do by accident) but more of an error. This error is the only thing that is obstructing an increase of time for myself and a decrease in the time I spend doing homework or watching TV with a guilty conscience. While I’m procrastinating, I’m aware of what I’m doing, but I don’t have the willpower to stop myself. This is something that is at the top of my to-do list which I will, one day, hopefully, complete. What Confucius states that concerns this topic is the following: “The Master said, 'To make a mistake and yet to not change your ways--- this is what is called truly making a mistake.'” (15.30) He is very right at that, and I think that peoples’ problem is that they don’t realize that they have made a mistake, so they don’t believe they have anything to fix. Many people believe they are perfect. I believe that we should always strive for perfection, taking into account the fact that we will never acquire it.