We’ve all been there: just when everything is going wonderful, something upsets the balance and causes, what feels like, an enormous step-back.
Dreaming of a blissful world, free of worry is great, but the truth is, life is never going to be completely plain sailing. That’s not to say that there will never be glorious moments of success and happiness throughout life. But these can be hard to conjure and remember when something less pleasant wanders through and disrupts the peace.
The term perfectionism can bring to mind a number of different ideas, both positive and negative. For some, the idea of perfectionism means the pristine, the orderly, the excessively-tidily-packaged lifestyle where everything falls into place with a ribbon on top (read: expertly posed and stylised selfies on social media). For others, perfectionism is best thought of as a struggle to meet grandiose personal goals and fulfil ambitions, to exceed expectations and excel beyond measure.
In an ever competitive age where the evolution of the digital realm continues to grow and grow, and we have access to glimpses of people’s lives from around the globe (whether that’s friends, acquaintances, celebrities, or other people we’re never likely to meet in real life), it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in a rose-tinted world of bliss and perfection, viewing failure as a giant grey gloom cloud in contrast. In other words: failure is something to be avoided at all costs.