Practice Makes Perfect…or does it?

Every Christmas I make our neighbors suffer while listening to me carol. Good thing I have friends who can carry a tune and nice neighbors!

The saying “practice makes perfect” is an expression that dates back to the 1550’s when the phrase was actually “use makes perfect.”  John Adams may have been the first to express the idea in the United States.

While we have been using the term for nearly 500 years, it couldn’t be more wrong.  I’ve heard “perfect practice makes perfect,” which gets a little closer to reality, but would be impossible.  Then I saw “practice makes progress” on a meme recently.  How brilliant.  Now that’s an accurate expression.

We never reach perfection.  It’s an unattainable goal.  I see it in Pilates all the time.  In fact, it is my inability to perfect my Pilates skills in this ever changing world and my constantly changing body that, in part, keeps me interested in the style of movement.  I prefer the idea of constantly progressing.  Not only does the concept take some pressure off, but the idea reflects that […]