GIVE UP PERFECTIONISM FOR EXCELLENCE

Trying to be perfect is overwhelming to many people these days.  It is reducing the quality and the years of life for thousands of people if not literally killing them with stress.  We need to do a re frame or switch our paradigm of what perfection should be in this mortal life and do away with the neurotics of perfectionism.

The Bible is probably the primary source of the idea of striving for perfection.  It is a commandment to many and an obligation to be like the Savior.  We seldom if ever think about the how the Savior was perfect.  I do not think there is any evidence that He never dinged up or cut a piece of wood wrong while making furniture.  The Savior may or may not be perfect shooter with a basket ball or a perfect hitter on the base ball field,  but it would have nothing to do with His perfection! The perfection of the Savior was that "He always did the Fathers will"!  He was perfect in "what", not necessarily the "how"!

We really do not need to be perfect in the "how" of what we do,  but just be working on the right objectives or outcomes.  For many people this will not be called the "Fathers will",  but it will be our  our mission, our foreordination (not predestination), or our purpose in life.  For most of us, this mission or purpose is not know to us all at once, but must be detected a little at time as we go through life.  For many it will be multidimensional,  mixing family, career, and /or community.  We can know we are on track when our behavior is congruent with our values and character or the light we feel in the activities.  We will generally be our happiest and not have feels of guilt in those times and periods of life.

This is not to say we do not care about the quality of "how" we do our activities of life.  The biblical description of the Savior was that "He did all things well".  In our business vernacular, we call it "striving for excellence".  The activities of life, more often than not, have a time pressure component.  Balancing the quality of our outcomes with the time available is usually the challenge.  Perfection will seldom, if ever, be possible in the time allowed.  The absolutely perfect building would be unaffordable, but we can fulfill the purpose of a building with excellent quality.  The college purpose  could be fulfilled in 2 years at a C average as opposed to an A average in 5 years, and still be called excellence.  Their is no commandment to be a "perfect parent" only to be a "parent" and our excellence is a child that is a productive member of society, regardless of the ups and downs of getting there.

We need to enjoy the happiness of a balanced life working on our missions and purposes, to best of our own individual abilities and let go of the guilt and stress striving for the neurotic and unreachable perfectionism we have mistakenly come to believe is possible and necessary.