When I was young, my mother often implemented the Principle of Finishing What You Start. At the dinner table, that meant cleaning my plate. At the library, it meant not returning a half-read book. If I tried out for some extracurricular activity, I had to see it through to the end, even when I learned in the first week that it wasn’t for me. The same principle applied to college courses too, and it probably explains how I got a “D” in metaphysics.
Over the years, I have become a devotee of the Principle of Sampling and Leaving. It first manifested itself in those same areas where my Mother held dear to her principle. Today, sometimes when I eat out, I leave the last morsels of food on my plate or the last sip of beverage in my cup. (Except for cocktails made with Absolut for which I adhere strictly to Mother’s code.)
Not only do I return half-read books to the library, but I also purchase books from various booksellers, read a part, and then relegate them unfinished to some shelf or accommodating friend. And just because I sign up for a class or a course doesn’t mean I’ll be at every session.
It’s not that one principle is better than the other. Certainly, forcing oneself to finish every little thing can build character; but it can also create a rigid personality. Allowing oneself to sample a portion without having to commit to the whole can broaden one’s experiences, but it can also make for a quitter when roadblocks loom.
So a balance between the two principles is what’s really important. In my life, it accounts for many unfinished projects such as the photo album of our recent vacation, the myriad stories that are in partial states of finished-ness in my computer, and the annual task of preparing my taxes for my least favorite uncle.
It also accounts for my finishing my Master’s Degree even though it took me ten years. My Mother would have been proud.
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