Pride and Perfection VS Perfectionism

There is a pretty good literature that exists which explains the issues with having a perfectionist mentality and how this makes anxious feelings worse. It also has a role in depression and other issues related to mental health. This makes perfect since when perfectionism means ones commitment to being almost super human and above the abilities of even being a person. Often times perfectionist thinking will be thinking that you have to do everything just right and that you need to be the Ultimate something or other that you have concocted in your own mind. It is an unrealistic and impractical mode of thinking.

I am slowly learning to not be so perfectionist with my thinking. Working on watching for the words I need or I should in my thinking. However, is perfection inherently bad? Perfectionism is referring to things that are unrealistic and often inhumane. The idea that you need to be the best of some hobgoblin in your mind which represent a misguided conception of what you need to be.
What if what you were perfecting was realistic and not unrealistic? What if perfection meant simply being the best you can be and living in reality at all times? The total opposite of trying to reach for some perfected inhumane being.

Objectivism has been condoned by some as a world view that somehow demands people be "the ideal person." Often this is due to misunderstanding the definition of perfection that is used within the Objectivist Ethics. Yes, the word does come up in the description of the virtues of the philosophy. However, to be perfecting in Objectivism is not perfectionism in fact it represents the total opposite of the mentally damaging and destructive kind of perfection seeking. Perfection in Objectivism simply means striving to be Morally proper and thus morally perfect. In Ms. Rand's own words; " Moral perfection is an unbreached rationality—not the degree of your intelligence, but the full and relentless use of your mind, not the extent of your knowledge, but the acceptance of reason as an absolute. "

Moral perfection defined as the above is accessible to the vast majority of people and is something that can be striven for. Whenever you hear perfection used by an Objectivist or in Objectivism based literature this is what is meant by it and not the mental health hell of perfectionism towards some sort of Ultimate definition in your head. Perfectionism is the total opposite of this because it is not based at all in an unbreached rationality or the real/reason as an absolute. This helps clear up the misunderstanding people; even some people whom are trying to live using Objectivist Ethics have around the definition of the virtue of pride. Which includes the following passage; "Ambitiously pursue moral perfection."

This does not mean that you need to be the Ultimate and unrealistic superhuman that can do no wrong and never makes a mistake. It does not mean you need to be loved by all or that you should be guilty if you mess up in life. It simply means that as part of being someone with Pride in yourself is working towards always living in an unbreached rationality and to do what is needed to reach the values your seek in life. Not to evade and blank out and think that your values will fall into your lap like a Magic Wishing tree will give you what you want in life. It means use your mind to get things done when they need to be done and it does not say that making mistakes is off the table. Of course. we will make mistakes we are not omniscient beings we are human beings.

Striving to live rationally requires working on and managing any of your intrusive negative perfectionist thoughts and belief systems. Perfectionism is a wall standing in between us and actually being the best we can be as that requires being a moral/good person. Which means it requires us to be practical as well. As Objectivism demonstrates; the moral is the practical and the practical is the moral. For the the moral thing to do is whatever is needed in reason, in truth, rationally to obtain and keep ones values. Perfectionism is a block which stops us from mentally being aware of the good, better and even best things in life in the now where we are. It stops us from even taking the first steps to even try to reach the only real perfection in life. Being the best you, you can be and nurturing your reasoning mind by using your rationality in all aspects of your life.