When dealing with a health challenge, doing things perfectly will increase your chance of the best possible outcome. For anyone who likes to feel in control (who doesn’t?) and has perfectionist tendencies (ahem, that would include me), the desire to do things perfectly can create problems.
In any human endeavor, from athletics to patienthood, striving for perfection is fine when it motivates you in healthy ways.
Expecting perfection is a problem. Nobody can do everything perfectly all the time every day, so that expectation creates undue stress. The vigilence and sacrifices needed for perfection distract from living, loving, and laughing. When—not if—something doesn’t go perfectly, disappointment and self-recrimionation follow.
Healthy Survivors strive for perfection when doing so helps them. They don’t expect perfection. Instead, they expect to do their best under the circumstances, which is always a work in progress.
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