What do I settle for? What are my standards? How do they impact my ideals?
I was at a jazz club last night to see and hear two time Grammy award winner Diane Schuur. As she began her set she suddenly stopped the entire show. “There’s not enough reverb” she called out to the fellow running the mixing board. Now, I couldn’t tell you whether there was or wasn’t enough reverb – and I doubt seriously if 99% of the remainder of the audience could either. Any adjustments that were made were all but inaudible to me. The point is…she knew…and she wasn’t willing to go forward until the sound mix was up to her standards.
When I speak of ideals in motion there is an implied standard – something to be lived into. Ms. Schuur’s willingness to stop the show and work with the sound mix until that standard was met is enlightening. Most people who experience success AND fulfillment in their lives have a set of standards that are used as guidelines. Fall short of the standard and, even though the goal may be obtained, the experience is less than fulfilling. No one else even needs to be aware of the “shortfall”. They are my standards and the more intimate I am with my ideals the more discriminating the standards will be. So too will be my willingness to keep moving until the standards that represent my ideals are met.
The paradox of “stopping the show” in service of moving toward a more ideal performance is interesting to note. All too often we will continue moving with the rational that what I’m doing is “good enough” to get by. Only by having standards that I continuously and rigorously live into can I begin to experience more of the ideal that my life can be.
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