Muddle

Cul­tures that sur­vive are the ones that know how to mud­dle. The same is cer­tainly true for indi­vid­u­als. The first groups and indi­vid­u­als to go down the drain are the per­fec­tion­ists. They never seem to be able to find the per­fect “fix” for their prob­lems. Con­se­quently, they debate them­selves to death or sim­ply stag­nate in the paral­y­sis of analy­sis. Great inven­tors know that it takes some guess­ing and a huge trash can to get to work­able solutions.

There are no per­fect solu­tions to ter­ror­ism, energy acqui­si­tion, or the econ­omy. If we can just mud­dle through for a while, we can live to find new and bet­ter solu­tions. If, as a coun­try, we expend all of our ener­gies second-guessing our­selves, we are sunk. The “sci­ence of mud­dling through” really is a sophis­ti­cated man­age­ment tech­nique. I learned it grow­ing up on a farm. It is amaz­ing what you can fix with some bal­ing wire and an active imag­i­na­tion. Mud­dle along. Get the job done. Have time to play.

I mud­dle through with my emo­tions too. There is a split sec­ond between an event and how we sub­con­sciously choose to respond to it. Keep notes on your­self. Next time humor may be more appro­pri­ate than anger or grief. What is the most work­able emo­tion the next time you encounter this or that set of cir­cum­stances? Are you over-working the same few tools in your men­tal tool chest?

Go ahead. Mud­dle along as a human being today. True per­fec­tion excludes per­fec­tion­ism (another one of those grand ironies of life). The B or C responses will get you through the day just fine — espe­cially when you are tired. They will also remind you that life is a mat­ter of Divine Grace not your own self-congratulating accom­plish­ments. Per­fec­tion­ists are sel­dom content.

Be happy. Muddle.