Settling for less, or nothing at all? - Tree of Souls

**Fkeu'itan** · #1 05-23-2010, 03:43 PM

Which would you rather?

I personally would much rather settle for nothing than settle for something less, on all counts in life. This I suppose is a huge downfall on my part as it means either something has to be virtually perfect (or as I expected it to turn out) or I will never be content with anything. Suppose you could call this perfectionism.

I have this issue in a lot of things in life, particularly artwork. It takes forever to get anything done as I absolutely have to get everyhting the way I like it or I just think it looks terrible and i'll never be happy. The same goes for playing music. A wrong note or a missed section and I feel i'm cheating myself or those i'm playing to somehow.

It's a difficult thing to describe to those who do not experience it, but those who do can relate perfectly.

Human No More · #2 05-23-2010, 07:32 PM

It's a hard question. I'd probably say less, because it's better than nothing e.g. if I could have a Na'vi body, but be on Earth.

ZenitYerkes · #3 05-23-2010, 07:47 PM

If I could try it again, I'd throw away what I've been given to make it better the next time.
If I had only one chance, and it's all I could get, then I'd keep it,

Txantsulsam Fyawintxu · #4 05-24-2010, 01:05 AM

Very good question Fkeu'itan. To be perfectly honest with you, if I was forced to pick those two options, I would go for the latter and start over completely from scratch with my own approach. That way, with the space created from 'nothingness' would bring up the opportunity for me to make whatever I wanted. It is probably more important to me since I would be able to things my own way rather than relying on a broken system that's already failing. Ya know what I mean?

Think of a hole that contained within it massive amounts of stuff available for you but the content was already obsolete so it's virtually broken and inaccessible in the first place. Now, with that emptiness and spacious hole, you are ready to create whatever you wanted. You have more space to contain the things you need and the things you want to help you grow as an individual.

In order for things to go one way, oftentimes it needs to be
emptied rather than keep filling it with more stuff constantly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Empty your cup so that it may be filled; become devoid to gain totality."
— Bruce Lee

Here's a website that basically describes what I'm talking about: Emptying Your Cup

There is also a quote very similar to the one by Moat in Avatar if you look close enough.

Autumnshire · #5 05-24-2010, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fkeu'itan

Which would you rather?

I personally would much rather settle for nothing than settle for something less, on all counts in life. This I suppose is a huge downfall on my part as it means either something has to be virtually perfect (or as I expected it to turn out) or I will never be content with anything. Suppose you could call this perfectionism.

I have this issue in a lot of things in life, particularly artwork. It takes forever to get anything done as I absolutely have to get everyhting the way I like it or I just think it looks terrible and i'll never be happy. The same goes for playing music. A wrong note or a missed section and I feel i'm cheating myself or those i'm playing to somehow.

It's a difficult thing to describe to those who do not experience it, but those who do can relate perfectly.

Me too. My mother is constantly telling me my standards are 'too high' - I'm setting myself up for disappointment.
But I don't see the point - why stop and settle for something you don't truly want or deserve? I'll constantly look and work towards 'better' things in life to me, rather than settling. I've tried settling before and it certainly does not and would not make me happy - quite the opposite. I'm much too stubborn and strong-minded to do that again

I'd rather settle for something magnificent

Work, partner, world around me, whatever.

**Helicoradian** · #6 05-24-2010, 03:41 AM

I would choose nothing at all. If I settled for less, chances are I would drive myself crazy trying to fix/improve whatever it is.

**Woodsprite** · #7 05-24-2010, 05:17 AM

Nothing. I've been doing it for years with a particular sequencer piano. Still earning money for it, even though I could go ahead and buy a lesser version that has the same quality, just less properties. But then I think, "I'll regret it later, having paid for something I could afford at the moment, but now have the money to pay for something better."

I guess "nothing" really isn't an option for me, but it also is in the sense that I'll have nothing until I get what I want.

Spock · #8 05-24-2010, 06:49 AM

I would rather have nothing. But I would like to discriminate between different aspects and phenomena of life when interpreting and answering this question. In terms of relationships, well, I'm planning to only ever have one. So that's where I stand in that aspect of life. So people that I find desirable should feel extremely special.