Perfectionism

Perfectionism is something I have always struggled with. A lot of my issues with perfection comes from my eating disorder. I continuously strive for the perfect body but can never obtain it. ED has made me a perfectionism slave.

I’m not only a perfectionist about my body but I’m also a perfectionist in other parts of my life. School for example; I strive for 100% on all assignments because it’s a way to prove to myself that I’m smart. When I don’t get a perfect grade I tend to kick my self. Kind of silly when I really think about it 90%-100% is still an A.

The fact that I can never reach perfection makes me feel like a failure and feeling like a failure leads me to depression. So why am I so obsessed with being perfect?

I read Pitfalls of Perfection by Hara Estroff Marano and here are a few points that I thought were important:

• Perfectionism may be the ultimate self-defeating behaviour
• Perfectionism turns people into slaves of success but keeps them focused on failure, dooming them to a lifetime of doubt and depression
• Perfectionism seeps into the psyche and creates a pervasive personality style
• Perfectionism keeps people from engaging in challenging experiences; they don’t discover what it’s truly like to create their own identities
• Perfectionism is a steady source of negative emotions
• Perfectionists tend to interpret mistakes as equivalent to failure

Perfectionism just doesn’t seem worth it. Letting go of perfectionism isn’t easy but I know what I need to do in order to get rid of the perfectionism mentality. I have to let go of ED.

Stay Strong ❤