I have the great honor of teaching across the socio-economic spectrum — from the very rich to the more economically humble. To this end, I have been inside many, many homes. People are, in the main, tidy and well organized in their domestic life. Some individuals have great style having traveled to the far corners of the globe and others are more modest. Everyone wants decency and warmth in their private life. What I remarked on the other day, however, gave me pause?
I was in a brand- new condominium facing a freshly created park — fountains, exotic trees and the like: truly images to enhance the mind. I rode the elevator up to the eleventh floor. It stopped and exposed the aforementioned view: spectacular! The front door opened; faux art- nouveau wallpaper greeted me, set off by a truly spectacular Czech chandelier: Chopin was playing in the background and everything smelt of lilacs, at least in my mind (at this point, my imagination was running full throttle). As you can appreciate, the senses were seduced. After the pleasantries, I was ushered into the boy’s, overly large, bedroom. I was seated at a desk facing my young charge. During the lesson, my eyes chanced upon the room’s wallpaper: expensive and — wait for it — crooked! What? Yes, it was true: the room’s wall covering, as beautiful as it was, had been hung incorrectly. The designs, for all their intricacy, were not aligned. I could have done a better job – this I honestly believe. How is this possible: how could I have paid this much money for a home and accepted less than excellent? Both parents were eminent doctors. One hoped that this lack of attention to detail did not extend to their professional lives. Probably not: we have a way of compartmentalizing our lives. But is this good? I, for one, think not! We must practice excellence in all aspects and at all times of our life. The key verb here is “practice,” defined by the Oxford-English dictionary as “to do something repeatedly to improve one’s skill.” Now, there are two things to contemplate. Firstly: this is your response to excellence. We all have different standards. Secondly: you have to acknowledge a basic truism — failure to strive for your prescribed level slowly lowers “your” standard over time, there is no question this is true.
What is excellence?
“What can we learn from Aristotle (384 -322 BC) in a day when the question, ‘What is a good life?’ tends to provoke ridicule rather than reflection? According to American Enterprise Institute (AEI) (1) scholar Dr. Leon Kass, (2) Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, (3) known for its teachings on human virtue or human excellence, reveals many truths if approached with the right experience and attitude.
In elaborating on the connection between human flourishing and human excellence, Kass claims that human flourishing is ‘soul-ing well’ and ‘human-ing excellently.’ To flourish as a human, one must pursue human excellence, cultivating and exercising the virtues of character and intellect. Eudaimonia (happiness and well-being), the goal of all our doings, is not a feeling but rather an activity, achieved in the life of action as we habitually strive toward the noble and the just. For Aristotle, an even greater eudaimonia is attained through the life of learning.
The peak of moral nobility is seen in Aristotle’s ‘great-souled man,’ who is the perfection of the human being in the realm of action. Dr. Kass offers Winston Churchill (1874-1965) as one example of a great-souled man.”(4)
Placed against this idea certainly must be the concept of “good enough”: I live a good-enough life, I have good-enough expectations and I want my life mission to be good enough. Most of us would disavow these statements. We would never visit a good-enough dentist, nor schedule an appointment with a good-enough physician. How then do we accept a level of mediocrity in our daily lives? I believe that it is in the little tasks that we practice our skill of excellence. A bathroom must be cleaned excellently, homework done excellently, a test written excellently, etc. All of this with the proviso that I judge my own excellence, but judge I must. I cannot consciously accept good enough. If I do, it is but a slippery slope to the bottom. The great historian and scholar, Will Durant (1885-1981) leaves us with a thought: We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
A closing thought: This week, I had a small surgery. The attending surgeon had done the same procedure, according to him, over 60,000 times (Please take note of the number). I would venture to guess that my chances of a successful operation have been greatly enhanced by his expertise: what would you think? I rest my case for excellence.
To sum up: This week, we discussed the concept of excellence: what is it, how can it be achieved and why it is important. We juxtaposed this ideal with mediocrity: the good-enough action or the good-enough life. We then asked each of us to choose our own course of action.
An amusing occurrence: I am a Luddite at heart. I don’t mean to be, but it has come to me because of experience. Many years ago, our office received its first batch of computers. A system was duly placed on my desk: I eyed it carefully. One of my colleagues said, “Treat it simply like an electronic typewriter.” This I could easily identify with for I had taken typing classes in high school (No, this is true). I was shown how to open a window and format a page. Now quite proud of myself, I diligently sat at my computer composing a detailed report long after everyone had gone home. The next morning, as I turned my computer on, an office wag began to tease one of his co-workers about failing to backup his work the previous evening: say what?
Just for fun: Bryan Adams – (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
This week, please ponder your own level of excellence.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: I must be my own judge of my life aspirations. My standard is, obviously, a reflection of how I see my world.
Footnotes:
1) What can I do to prevent this in the future?
2) Leon Kass
4) AEI brochure
5) Luddite