Removing Bad Doesn't Make Good

How to Get Rid of Maggots, Step by Step | MYMOVE

Another prevalent fallacy surrounding excellence is that an absence of failure and dysfunction must equal a presence of excellence. It’s like the decades of psychological studies surrounding disorders: instead of studying cases of optimal psychological health and exploring that path, the field of psychology poured its resources into “curing” disorders, as if eliminating disorders was tantamount to a peak mental and emotional state. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to study disorders and disease in attempts to treat those afflicted. But it’s also dangerous to assume the absence of a disease makes someone healthy.

In the same manner, the lack of conflict in a relationship doesn’t automatically mean it’s a strong bond. The lack of a physical impairment doesn’t mean you are in good shape. Not giving the wrong answer is very different from giving the right one. Just because you haven’t slipped doesn’t mean you are making progress.

We must not allow ourselves to assume the absence of a negative equals the presence of the positive or the lack of a problem denotes the possession of a solution. In fact, it’s often as we battle the negatives that the positives come to light.

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