My friend, Amanda, gave some great thoughts that I want to share...
"One thing we shouldn't do is let the fear of failure or the need for perfection stop us from making and keeping commitments."
She mentioned how she wants to be a family that prays, reads the scriptures and holds family home evening together. She doesn't lack the desire to be better committed , but rather has the need to do those things perfectly which ultimately prevents her from following through with them. For example, she said that if she spent as much energy actually holding family home evening as she does analyzing why they don't hold it regularly, discussing ad nausea whose fault it is and how to change it and then planning endlessly future family nights and all the details associated with it, they would be family home evening champions. But she finds that she gets bogged down by obstacles of her own making through unrealistic expectations and unnecessary criterion.
"Sometimes our lives become consumed by our commitments to others and we feel beaten down, discouraged, frustrated and down right exhausted. It's not that everything we be perfect when we stay true to our commitments, but one thing is for sure. We will have rest; the Lord has promised us that.
2 Ne: 24:3 And it shall come to pass that in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest, from thy sorrow, and from they fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve"
**Are you guilty like me of putting things off because of "perfection
issues?"
**Isn't it comforting to be reminded that the Lord has promised us "rest" when we stay true to our commitments?
I consider myself a frustrated perfectionist so I know I'm guilty of not doing a lot of things because I can't do them the way I'd like them to be done. But I've always figured out that feeling guilty about not doing certain things like FHE is far more exhausting than actually having FHE. Having this epiphany awhile ago has changed the way we do things at home and has eliminated our excuses. Now we have weekly Family Home Evenings, daily scripture reading, and morning and night family prayers. It has made me realize that we were the ones complicating things.
ReplyDeleteI am guilty of perfectionist issues. I know that I spend far too much time and energy analyzing and ruminating when I should just get moving! I especially love the idea of the Lord giving us rest.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if it is worry about perfection, but it is overwhelming to add one more thing to the list! It would be nice to not feel tired.
ReplyDeleteUh? YES I am guilty of all of the above...
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