Eight, nine at the most

My daughter has gotten into the habit of trying to rate the things she does, the food she tastes, the movies she watches, or the situations she experiences. She does it for fun, it’s not an obsession. It’s a pastime that we introduced when she was eating new things that she didn’t like, and I asked her to express her judgment with a grade because all in all, it wasn’t a two as she imagined: she could even give those vegetables a six.

Dad, what mark would you give me from one to ten?, he asks. My highest mark, when there’s the highest mark to give, always hovers between eight and nine. Never ten. Why?, he insists. Because you can always improve, I reply.

You can always do better. You don’t always have to do better, I tell her, not necessarily. In fact, often there’s no need and it shouldn’t be an obsession. But you can always improve. Anything has room for improvement, and it’s important to know that, to recognize it.

Above all, we must know that we will never do things in the best possible way because there is always a better way than ours. And being aware of this is essential because it balances us and makes us wiser, as well as giving us stimulation and objectives: we will always have a lot to improve.

What grade would you give yourself?

🇮🇹 You can find here the original Italian post.