...and in this corner
As many of you know, being some of my closest friends, I'm a recovering perfectionist. I'm actually doing pretty good. It has been a good year since I last fell off the wagon. For me, the bottom line is this; I believe that God deserves excellence in every offering we bring to Him. Where's the line between excellence and perfection. It's always good to remind myself that ONLY CHRIST WAS PERFECT! In my journey to learn more about my sickness, I came across this on the web:
Sherry L. Conger
God doesn't expect perfection from us. If His ONLY son was the ONLY one to ever be perfect, why would He expect us to be. Let's face it, we've been screwing up ever since Adam & Eve's lust for more, and it couldn't have gotten more perfect than the garden of Eden. Thanks guys!!
So, just because we know we will never be perfect, should we not strive for it? I think Miss Conger put it well when she said "Perfection is the destination...Excellence is the journey".
I ask it again. Where's the line?
Perfection Vs. Excellence
 | Perfection is being right. Excellence is willing to be wrong. |
| Perfection is fear. Excellence is taking a risk. |
| Perfection is anger and frustration. Excellence is powerful |
| Perfection is control Excellence is spontaneous. |
| Perfection is judgement Excellence is accepting. |
| Perfection is taking. Excellence is giving. |
| Perfection is doubt Excellence is confidence. |
| Perfection is pressure. Excellence is natural |
| Perfection is the destination. Excellence is the journey |
God doesn't expect perfection from us. If His ONLY son was the ONLY one to ever be perfect, why would He expect us to be. Let's face it, we've been screwing up ever since Adam & Eve's lust for more, and it couldn't have gotten more perfect than the garden of Eden. Thanks guys!!
So, just because we know we will never be perfect, should we not strive for it? I think Miss Conger put it well when she said "Perfection is the destination...Excellence is the journey".
I ask it again. Where's the line?
posted by Me at 10:41 AM
9 Comments:
Yeah, I'm a recovering perfectionist, too.
I've been thinking about JUST THAT SUBJECT a lot lately, so not only was it great to read it, but it gave me an idea of something I can blog about tonight!
Thanks, T-Mark!
I can tell you where the line is having endured living with a perfectionist for 16 years. The line is to whom's authority you submit to. If I submit to God's authority, then I am also under His (all enduring) grace. If I don't submit to God, then I am only under the world's authority with no grace and no hope of those rosy-colored glasses for God to look at me through when I stand before the throne of Judgement. Only God's grace can make me remotely perfect (no witness needed on this one!) and even though I can NEVER measure up to perfectionistic standards set before me by others, I rest completely in God's grace. After all, He the one who shows me what's important and orders my life. He makes sure that I endure all because He gave all. So, there's the line in the sand, so to speak. Perhaps you should draw yours as well??
I guess I would be a bipolaristic(is that a word?) perfectionist. Off the charts in some areas, very laid back in others. Where it haunts me is with my family. I have been accused of holding others (and myself for that matter) to an impossibly high standard, when I don't see it as anything other than expecting excellence. So I don't know if I would be any help in establishing a line. But just a friendly perfectionistic nit pic..... navy blue is hard to see against black on my screen;)
You can highlight it and make the background white, Spring!
I'm having trouble with my blog tonight making HUGE spaces between sentences. Do I want to keep trying to fix it or not? I can't decide if it's excellence or perfectionism to keep trying!
Sorry, I have to harass. I just can't help myself!!!! Try one more time, then blow it off. We'll read it, with or without huge spaces.
Kathy, I spent an hour trying to fix that same problem. I could get one space to go away, but it would show up somewhere else. I even deleted the whole thing and started over. It never got fixed, but I sure wasted a lot of time trying.
On the subject of perfection, i have always tried really hard to do well, but at the same time realize my limitations. However, this is very hard when others expect more out of you than you feel you are capable of. It causes continual stress and feelings of inadequacy. Some of these situations are avoidable, but when one is your husband, and the other is your mother, what do you do?
Wow, it sounds like I'm not the only one. Shall we form a support group. Oh wait a minute, I think that's what we are.
By the way. Do you think I didn't actually try to change the blue font? It's driving me nuts. Oh well, I've given up. It can't be done. It was cut from the web & for some reason is stuck in blue. Oh the humanity!!!
Knowing you as well as I do, I would have bet money you tried, Mark! I'm impressed that you let it remain as it is, though, kid! Dang, you may have to be our president!
Laura, when I have spacing problems, I put the text on a Word document and then paste it on my blog, and that seems to help a lot. It's still usually not perfect, though. And it IS a pain!
Today my Arch Ford friend/co-worker was freaked out because she has lost her planner. We can't function without our planners! I told her I thought we had too many things to keep up with, and we're bound to lose something every now and then. You probably have too many things going to always please your husband and mother, too. Anyway, my friend said she has prayed to St. Anthony and Mary and still can't find it, so she asked me for some "Protestant prayer." Ha!
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