Searching for perfection

The word, "perfection" derives from the Latin "perfectio", and "perfect" — from "perfectus." These expressions in turn come from "perficio" — "to finish", "to bring to an end." "Perfectio(n)" thus literally means "a finishing", and "perfect(us)" — "finished", much as in grammatical parlance ("perfect tense").

Why does one strive for perfection? As I read recently, it gives people a sense of order & control and is an attempt to stave off criticism and avoid reproach. For a perfectionist, mistakes are painful. They are exaggerated in their negative importance and expose the fear of inadequacy and incompetence.

Sometimes, we create goals for ourselves that are unrealistically high, unreasonable and most often not aligned with who we really are as a result of beliefs acquired during chilhood or from a person of significance who might have held these expectations of us.

The need to be "perfect" carries with it a heavy weight. On the one hand, it magnifies the importance of any mistake one makes. On the other hand, it magnifies the perceived difficulty of any step one takes, at best resulting in stress and at worst resulting in inaction and eternal insatisfaction.

Instead, we should take the time to think about what we really want. It's easy, we know that we are on track when the thought of what we want gives us a sense of well being.

Then we just need to take the first step in faith, we do not need to see the whole staircase.