Do we have any perfectionists here?

[Tobin S.]

I'm not talking about people who think they are perfect. I'm talking about those who strive for perfection, but often fall short (like most humans) and then take it out on themselves for not being good enough.

It just occurred to me after I posted my "Self Doubt" thread that I might be a perfectionist of some sort. I've tried to make my life perfect and it hasn't worked out, nor will it. I can't take back past mistakes. I can't make people love me. I can't cure this mental illness. And I obsess about all of that making myself very uncomfortable at times.

Here's an article about perfectionism:

http://hubpages.com/hub/Perfectionism-misconceptions

[Odin2005]

1. ME, ME, ME!

:cry:

[elleng]

2. Tobin, you CAN take back mistakes, and you CAN make people love you.

People always make mistakes, and the moment we recognize them is the moment improvement begins. If I didn't believe this and have evidence that it works, I'd have thrown in my 'parent' badge years ago. The evidence we can change, and change works, is my 2 wonderful, adult daughters.

We all seek perfection. The worst failures are those among us who can't or won't recognize mistakes, and seek to improve.

E

[Tobin S.]

3. I'm not talking about people who learn from mistakes

and I'm also not talking about minor mistakes.

I'm talking about people who cause themselves and those around them pain with their quest for the unattainable. Read the article if you haven't already.

[mopinko]

4. damn, that sounds like my oldest

and i can see that when she was a kid she never heard anything good i ever said, just remained fixated on the criticism. she is 34 and still pissed off at me.
she is very smart, and obsessive about some things, but unable to get her shit together to do what she wants. obsessive about getting the best deal on a teflon bundt pan from overstock.com, but not so much about getting registered for school. also has quite a history of taking classes, starting off great, then getting distracted and ending up dropping the class.
and defensive? :nuke: like that defensive.

interesting.

[hunter]

5. Ouch.

Some of the very bad genes in my family.

[EFerrari]

6. I've had that impulse as for as long as I remember.

And sometimes, it has served me very well. Other times, not so much. :)

[UndertheOcean]

7. Guilty !

[sakabatou]

8. I used to be