Aiming High

One of Gretchen Rubin's recent happiness quotes of the day struck me as refreshingly optomistic: 

"In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high."
— Henry David Thoreau

Cartoon from Savage Chickens

This Thoreau quote reminds me of a famous chef quote that my husband often spouts when talking about always shooting to achieve perfection in the kitchen.  The key is to remember the ideal of perfection likely doesn't exist, so don't beat yourself up when you don't get there.  This is no reason not to aim that high, however -- because of the lofty goal, you are bound to land in a place that makes you proud.