Excellence vs Perfection

Some years ago, I came across calendar of quotations and vividly remember a qoute attributed to Michael J. Fox that I thought was quite meaningful. Unfortunately, I could not remember the words until a few days ago, when someone sent me a collection of meaningful words in powerpoint and and it contained this quotation.

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection.
Excellence, I can reach for;
Perfection is God's business"

Very often, we use the word perfection in our execution but what we really mean is excellence or a repeatable execution. As example, a hole in one in golf can be viewed as a perfect shot. It is also a lucky shot as one is unable to reproduce that shot all the time. What one can do is to practise consistently such that one can repeat the swing and improves one's odd of scoring that hole in one. As one professional golfer has said, "the more I practise, the luckier I get."

The poem below by Jill Wolf hangs in my office.

Excellence is dedication to a job that's hard to do,
Going the extra mile and always trying to follow through.

Excellence is communication, sharing everything you know,
And learning how to listen your expertise will grow.

Excellence is appreciation of the talent that you see,
Acknowledging a job well done inspires success and loyalty.

Excellence is aspiration with a higher goal in mind,
To trust in God and reach for things of a more rewarding kind.