There is a saying that the good is the enemy of the better. If you are interested in growth, you had better become familiar with the meaning of this saying.
There is a tendency in human nature to go after self-affirmation in the easiest manner possible. We accept challenge only in areas which are not too difficult, and so we may improve in certain aspects of our character while remaining weak and becoming weaker in other areas. The man with a sore leg favors the good leg. The person who is successful in business may spend almost all of his life in this realm. The individual with a talent in music, art, etc., tends to concentrate on the aspect of his or her own talented nature.
Observe this tendency in yourself. Due to buffers you may find it very difficult to acknowledge your weak areas. Deep down within you is a sense of your weaknesses, but you have carefully hidden them from yourself. This is how the conatus, the self-preservative force in us, acts to save us from pain.
In a real work group the other students challenge us in our weak areas. That is why growth is only possible in such a group. By ourselves we area too shielded from our inadequacies: If you have a real desire to grow, these challenges will arouse a deep struggle in you, for the old forces do not want to surrender to the awakening desire to grow. This is your moment of truth. Will you turn again to what you previously felt gave you satisfaction and buffer out the challenge to seek something better? Or is there enough strength in your desire to grow for you to hold on to the search for a more total development? If you hold on to the present good and turn away from the better, the good will in time becomes good for nothing. The decision you make now, about seeking the better and going beyond the present good, will determine the life you will have next year and the year after. The choice is yours.
