Perfection

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it." Salvador Dali

When I first read this quote years ago, I felt such relief! All my life before that had been spent trying for perfection in just about everything. This came partly from my parents' expectations but mostly, I think, from my own drive to be perfect. That drive made me a nervous wreck and, by my own assessment, I was never good enough, except for my grades in school; I always got perfect grades.

Everything else I worried about, constantly striving for some unattainable goal I had set for myself and feeling shattered if I didn't reach it. And, of course, I usually didn't reach the goal; I always set the bar too high.

When I read the Salvador Dali quote it was as though a thousand pound weight lifted from my shoulders. I don't know why that one quote resonated so deeply with me, but it did. I dropped that burden of expecting perfection from myself and have never picked it up again.

Thank you, Salvador Dali!