Perfection Pending...

On Sunday, our Branch President gave a talk on trying to be perfect and perfectionism.  His talk was based on this talk by Elder Cecil O. Samuelson: What does it mean to be Perfect?.  I ended up reading the whole talk this morning and man was it something that I needed to hear!

I have been working so hard to get my life to a place where I feel spiritually and temporally ready to let someone else into my life.  Last week, I struggled mightily with self doubt.  I have a very hard time with balance, most of the time I am either 100% on or off.  Being the super analytical Type A person that I am, not hitting the super intense schedule that I have set for myself makes me feel like a failure.  Even though if I look honestly at the pace I am trying to keep, its unrealistic.

"Our perceptions of ourselves may or may not be accurate, but more frequently than we may expect, they may differ from how others view us.  Those suffering from perfectionism tend to be wonderful, contributing, and effective people, and yet may feel that no matter what they do, it is never enough.  These good people suffer from exaggerating their minor mistakes, weaknesses, or shortcomings to the point that they may become dysfunctional."

This is me, I tend to overlook the things that I have accomplished and play up the fact that I didn't exactly reach the nearly impossible goal that I set for myself.

At the end of the talk by Elder Samuelson there's a little chart of Doing Your Best v. Perfectionism.  Currently, I relate to every single point on the "Perfectionism" side but my goal is to move more to the "Doing Your Best" side of the spectrum.

I think that it is remarkable how sometimes the talks that are given in Church are so right on point and exactly what you need to hear at this moment in time.