Not the type of thing that's really related to the blog, but the newest poem off my press and couldn't wait to share!
My pencil pressed hard on that paper with lines,
As I practiced my script in a writing so fine.
My teacher gave stars to the work that was best,
“Practice makes perfect” she said to the rest.
My little tongue poked out as I rounded a letter.
Knowing this time it was sure to be better.
I waited for approval as teacher checked my swirls,
And finally got a sticker like the other girls.
But even with the shiny star I got at the end,
I knew my script couldn’t compare to that of my friend.
I really tried my best and I knew that I did good,
But others always seemed to do better than I could.
All through the years perfection was the dream
And I practiced all the time so I could see what it would mean
But somehow even when I pulled out all the stops,
Perfection was out of reach- somewhere at the top.
It got me down as I grew to understand
That I was never going to attain the goal I had at hand.
Perfection was unreachable, it got me really blue.
“Practice makes perfect” just didn’t ring true.
And then one day it hit me, it was sparkling clear,
Perfection wasn’t the reason that I was put down here.
If Hashem wanted perfect he wouldn’t have created me,
He just wanted the best- the best that I could be.
It didn’t stop my practicing; I just set different heights,
And I didn’t want perfection to ever cloud my sight.
Now my dreams of perfect; I dismissed ‘em,
“Practice make progress” was what I put into my system
No one here is perfect, it’s an unattainable score
But we can progress in life and grow a little more.
Life is all about changing, learning, and growing,
And those that think “perfect” are not all- knowing.
I think we can never stop learning and practicing to fly,
Because we are only here as long as we try.
We exist to work on and better our souls,
Progress, not perfect is the name of our goal.
Today when I see my kids keeping up with demands,
I take their little chins and lift them in my hands.
And tell them “Practice makes progress” that’s all you need to know,
Hashem is very happy just to see you grow!
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9 comments:
So so true. My handwriting is still pretty messy but I've come a long way from how it looked in first grade. But seriously, this is such an important idea- it took me till this year to realize that the reason I didn't take notes in school, the reason my room is always a wreck, the reason why I have a hard time with tefillah and why most people out there have a hard time dieting is cuz we aim for perfection instead of progress if my notes can't be perfect, why take notes at all? if my room's not spotless, why bother cleaning? ... if I can't be skinny, why eat healthy? the list goes on and on, we have to realize that every bit counts and although, yes, we do want to be perfect, if we don't get there, it's fine too, as long as we're going in that direction.
Yup!
An almost "perfect" alternative for the old incorrect phrase. You got a strong point there.
Wow! What a beautiful poem! You are so right about each word you wrote!!
What about the Define Perfect article you wrote for aish.com?! This goes very well with it!
This poem is gorgeous...I love it!!
It has a beautiful lesson!!
Keep writing!!!
Amazing message and so beautifully written. Keep up your writing and getting these important messages across.
love the poem. and alot of people would be spared alot of stress if they took this message to heart
Good message.
That was great, I'm gonna add that to my list of quotes "Practice makes progress",it makes so much more sense that way.
soon after i read this (a while ago! i really liked it right away, but didn't post a response...) one of my pre-1A students said "practice makes perfect" when i told his friend that if he keeps practicing writing his name, it will start to come out better. that's all i need-a bunch of 5 year olds thinking that they'll be able to write perfectly in just a few weeks...so i said "no, if we practice, we get better at things. people aren't perfect."
well, his mommy told him that practice makes perfect, so how can that be? my bad. i had to change it to say "in our class..." if i had his mother's email address...grr!
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