Shortcoming

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WotD: Shortcoming

I believe that the one thing humans do well is survive.

We can get ourselves out of any problematic situation we get ourselves into.

But even I can’t help but notice the many shortcomings of humanity.

According to Google, a shortcoming is “a fault or failure to meet a certain standard, typically in a person’s character, a plan, or a system.”

Let’s be honest: humans are far from perfect.

For starters, we tend to make the same mistakes repeatedly.

We know that overeating will make us feel terrible, yet we keep doing it.

We know procrastinating leads to stress, yet we keep putting things off until the last minute.

But it’s not just individuals who have shortcomings.

Humanity as a whole is riddled with flaws.

We pollute the environment, wage wars, and perpetuate inequality.

We’re so focused on our wants and needs that we often forget about the well-being of others and, thus, indirectly harm ourselves.

It’s almost comical how many shortcomings we have.

We’re stubborn and resistant to change, yet we live in a world in a constant state of flux.

Emotions and biases easily sway us.

We’re prone to making assumptions and jumping to conclusions.

And yet, we continue to believe we’re the most intelligent species on the planet.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming of all is the inability to see our shortcomings.

Yes, the list of human shortcomings is endless.

But that doesn’t mean we should give up.

We may never achieve perfection, but we can certainly strive for it.

And who knows, maybe one day we’ll look back and laugh at all our past shortcomings.

If we can survive our shortcomings, that is.

This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.