Sundays and My Quest for Perfection

Sundays have been a holy day for me for as long as I could remember. I have wanted to keep it holy and sacred and have almost driven my self to obsession in my pursuit to not "break" the sabbath and not to break the commandment given by the Lord to his people.

Needless to say I have broken the commandment, I have sinned, and I have felt the guilt of all of my fallen expectations for myself, daily. I have had goal to be perfect for as long as I can remember. In the King James version of the Bible scripture that comes to my mind most often is Matt. 5:48. "Be ye therefore perfect" is the part of the verse that both motivates me and troubles me.

I was able to have a great visit with one of my oldest and best friend's on Friday night. In a discussion about perfection, she shared an article she had recently read in the BYU quarterly magazine. This article was entitled: "Seeking Perfection without Being a Perfectionist" by Janet S. Scharman. I loved the whole article, but was impressed by the last two paragraphs especially. I will copy them below:

" 'Peace be unto thy soul' (D&C 121:7) is an important message for us to remember. We are living in a day of harsh competition and unreasonably high competition coming from many directions. Inherent in the message is one of wisdom to not run faster than we have strength (see D&C 10:4). It is good to have plans, goal, and high expectations for ourselves. But when we experience tears, exhaustion, and feelings of depression, it may mean that we are self-imposing unrighteous expectations.

 As we come to accept that perfection is a developmental process, something we learn 'line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little' (2 Nephi 28:30), we can let go of guilt trips and over-complication of our lives. We can better understand the truly wondrous gift of the Atonement which as Elder Bruce C. Hafen (BA '66) has said, is not to erase our mistakes, but to provide a way for us to 'learn from our mistakes without being condemned by them' " 

(D&C is shortened for the Doctrine and Covenants and Nephi is a part of the Book of Mormon.  Both are scriptures I know to be true and can be accessed at the Church of Jesus of Christ of Latter-day Saints Web Site-Search the Scriptures section of the site. I encourage you to keep an open mind and read these scriptures for yourself. Then, pray to God and ask if they are true. He will tell you for yourself. I also completely support everyone is their own faith, and even if they do not believe in a deity, in their lives at all. I hope we can all find happiness in this life, and I know that we all have our own minds, hearts, and free wills).

This article has helped me realize that I can still continue my quest for perfection, but I do not have to beat myself up,each time I fall way far away from my goal. I can also listen to my feelings, and when I am stressed, and depressed, I know I am doing too much, or the wrong things in my life.

Life is about joy, and it is more than okay to take time to enjoy each day that I am given in this life. Each day is precious and I am grateful for each one. To quote my dear mother who always said, "live life to the fullest."
That I plan on doing..I wish the same for all of you and best of luck on all of your own quests...whatever they may be for :)....