Do You Live in the Perfect Tense?

Any reasonable soul knows that no one is perfect, right? Wrong! There are die-hards among us who strive for perfection with the belief that such a happy state is entirely attainable. But, to quote poet Alexander Pope, “Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see, thinks what ne'ev was, nor is, no e'er shall be.” Perfectionists are playing a game that cannot be won. Of course, striving for the best isn't a negative activity. It only becomes a problem when it strains our relationships with other and when it runs us, exhausted, into the ground.

Studies show that “unsatisfy-ables” are compulsive people who become entangled in details. They suffer from what psychoanalyst Karen Horney has called the “tyranny of the should,” attitude that they should have done better at anything they attempted to do.

Do you have perfectionist tendencies? The following quiz might tell.