Pruning for Perfection

Gemcutting is done on gem stones in order to bring lustre and brilliance. Trees are pruned to look beautiful. Hair and nails are not allowed to grow wild. Paper, wood, leather, etc. are either sized or resized to create something. Hence, Trimming is an artificial process that is manually and purposely done for a better appearance on the one hand and making of a product on the other hand. Similarly, human characters are also chistled for a refined behavior.

Artificial Living

Discipline has limitations. By nature, Man appears to be a raw product rather than a refined one. Refined words and behavior make someone gentle more and more. If there is a change required in someone's behavior, it is artificially corrected. Unnecessary character shoots are supposed to be recognized and chistled in order to appear good and great. Raw and wild behaviors are often described as indecent and ungentle.

Pruning for Perfection

If a tree grows wild without a shape, Man prunes it. If Man's character itself is wild, he has to analyze himself and correct the areas that need to be corrected. Some people point out others' mistakes and advice them, but in vain. Those who are pious by nature may require minor corrections.

Self analysis

Self-analysis is a personal exercise about certain practices, habits, behaviors, etc. "Am I polite or rude?" "Am I decent enough in my behavior?" "Am l wasting my time and energy?" "Am I a spendthrift?" "Am I really helping others, at least a word of help?"

Summary

However, this doesn't mean that something is overdone. Overdoing an activity may sometimes lead to humiliation. A quick thought of 'how I behaved, helped, spent, etc. yesterday' is sufficient to have a quick analysis. It is a character tuning and a daily exercise that may help somebody understand the complexity and simplicity of life.

- Davidson Prabu