Morning meditation

I am a perfectionist when it comes to me, and often I put myself down for things I cannot do, for mistakes, and for my flaws. It is a pretty heavy burden.  I have been trying to fight this urge to kick myself like that. A quote that has helped is “do the best you can”. It helps sometimes, but sometimes I use it as an excuse “I cannot do this, I know my limits, this is the best I can, and it’s enough”.

I started reading quotes from Presidents of the Church, our days’ prophets. I came across this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley: “Do the best you can. But I want to emphasize that it be the very best. We are too prone to be satisfied with mediocre performance. We are capable of doing so much better.” This does not help my perfection problem, but I came to the conclusion that it is alright to be perfectionist, to be hard on myself. How else am I going to progress? How else can I be better today than yesterday?

I know I am not perfect, even though I tend to become so. And I know I cannot change over night. I can try to be kinder. I can try harder to love. I can give my very best to serve others. I can fight harder to study and learn all the things I need for a better future.  I think it is alright to be a perfectionist as long as it is used to progress, and not to feel superior to others.  I will try harder to do my best. I will not give up on the people I love, on my dreams, on fighting. It is hard, but how sweet is the feeling at the end of the day when you can tell yourself that you have done your very best!