Perfect People

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The question isn’t whether the world is perfect. The real question to consider is: If it were, would you still be in it? ― Eric Micha’el Leventhal If a man should happen to reach perfection in this world, he would have to die immediately to enjoy himself. ― Josh Billings The story follows John and Naomi, a young couple who comprise of a Swede and a Brit who have married, had a child and then lost that child. They are both carriers of a rare gene which gives a horrible and tragic illness to their first son, so they grieve his loss deeply when it comes. In the end, they decide they want more children, but they don't want to have to watch them suffer too so they seek out the help of a geneticist who is working on cutting edge gene-alterations and 'designer babies' to see if he can eradicate the gene for the illness from their next child. Little do the couple know, this scientist may well have his own aims... The book is as usual a good example of how skilled Peter James is as a writer and within the first few chapters I was completely absorbed. The two main characters were a couple; John and Naomi, and all they want is a child that will not be born with the same disease their last little boy had died from. Having lost their little boy, this normal couple decide to put their faith into the hands of geneticist Dr Leo Dettore. Right from the beginning I couldn't stand Dr Dettore but as the story progresses and you see the couple follow the procedures to choose what they do and don't want their future child to have, you can understand with how badly they want this. I could even understand how they put Dr Dettore's scientific brilliance before his less than appealing personality.

The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. ― Anna Quindlen Find good people and leave the bad ones.” But I say, find the good in people and ignore the bad in them. Because no one is perfect. ― Unknown Greenspon TS. Is there an antidote to perfectionism? Psychol Schools. 2014;51(9):986-998. doi:10.1002/pits.21797 Faced with failure, “perfectionists tend to respond more harshly in terms of emotions. They experience more guilt, more shame,” says Hill. They also experience more anger.

17. You’re an introvert, but you don’t know it.

Naomi becomes pregnant with not one but two babies and with the series of bizarre events leading to their birth, we, the readers, know something is amiss. When the babies start behaving abnormally, the couple reaches out to the good doctor only to find he'd disappeared. Limburg K, Watson H, Hagger M, Egan S. The relationship between perfectionism and psychopathology: A meta-analysis. J Clin Psychol. 2017;73(10):1301-1326. doi:10.1002/jclp.22435 Džonas ir Naomė trokšta susilaukti kūdikio, tačiau, sužino, kad abu turi pavojingą geną, todėl yra labai didelė tikimybė vaikui susirgti reta nepagydoma liga.

The closest to perfection a person ever comes is when he fills out a job application form. ― Stanley J. Randall Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solitude is the enemy of well-being. ― John UpdikeHowever, just a couple of chapters in I couldn't believe how naive the two main characters were, and they seemed to be making stupid decision after stupid decision. This continued throughout the book and really affected my enjoyment of the story but I pushed on, partly because I hate putting a book down midway but I was also curious as to how it would all play out.

In many ways, poorer health outcomes for perfectionists aren’t that surprising. “Perfectionists are pretty much awash with stress. Even when it’s not stressful, they’ll typically find a way to make it stressful,” says Gordon Flett, who has studied perfectionism for more than 30 years and whose assessment scale developed with Paul Hewitt is considered a gold standard The description of the science behind the designer babies is reasonably wooly, in her diary Naomi Klaeesson writes: 'disease genes will be removed or disabled by altering their cytokines and others will be programmed to self-destruct'. This vagueness is to be expected, as much of it is hypothetical. However the process of testing and selecting embryos is accurately described. There is still that singular perfection, and it’s perfect in part because it seemed, at the time, so clearly to promise more. ― Michael Cunningham Even when we strive for perfection , life is nothing more than an attempt to achieve it through a series of greater or smaller imperfections. ― Peter Prange Perhaps you have toxic parents who didn’t (and still don’t) treat you well, or you were bullied at school.I’ve experimented with some of that letting go myself. It’s gone hand-in-hand with becoming aware when I’m taking on too much and exhausting myself in my attempt to do ‘enough’ (an amount, I’ve realised, that for me doesn’t actually exist).

There are deliberate echoes of Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World' as Dr Dettore prophesies a genetic underclass made up of those who were not designed. Where is this increase coming from? When you keep in mind the idea that perfectionism stems from marrying your identity with your achievements, the question might become: where isn’t it coming from? The sub-plot involving a religious assassin is initially interesting and though we don't get much characterisation, he's cold and relentless and a distraction. Until he gets to our family, when for no apparent reason he loses his cool completely, forgets how to shoot and stumbles all over the place before effectively getting killed. It seems like a completely different character. The author has created a story that is extremely thought provoking. Scientists have come so far and designer babies is something that is probably very possible if not already. I certainly don't agree with people playing god and dictating what a human being is going to be like but the thought of also putting a stop to illnesses that leave devastation in its trail is a very positive part of it.Phoebe and Luke Klaesson were indeed vivid examples of what Perfect People could be if there is or is soon to be one. The twins right from toddler began showing signs of perfection to their parents and by the time they were two years old, Phoebe the female already had her first menstrual experience, not to mention the twins' anti-social behavior towards everyone including kids their age as well as their parents. Our beliefs are formed by our experiences, and if you had a childhood (or some other period in your life) when people treated you poorly, you might come to expect this of everyone. Mental health problems aren’t just caused by perfectionism; some of these problems can lead to perfectionism, too. One recent study, for example, found that over a one-year period, college students who had social anxiety were more likely to become perfectionists – but not vice versa. I know who I am. I am not perfect. I’m not the most beautiful woman in the world. But I’m one of them. ― Mary J. Blige It’s a work in progress. But what I’ve noticed is that, each time I’m able to replace criticising and perfecting with compassion, I feel not only less stressed, but freer. Apparently, that’s not unusual.