Assignment 4- Gersony

 I have been blessed by being raised by a family and community that possessed no deeply polorazing or restricting beliefs. However, one common belief that I have questioned in the past is the common saying “you did your best and that's what is most important”. I am in many ways a perfectionist. This has been a positive and negative influence in my life. It pushes me in all aspects of my life, including academics, but it can also make me breakdown if I “fail” at a task or goal that I set for myself.  If I don't perform to the standards I wish to achieve, a common phrase that my parents will try to assuage me with is “It's OK, because you did the best you could, and that's what matters the most”. What bothered me was that, in my opinion, the person that said this to you was essentially saying your best is not very good. In more extreme wording, it meant that your full potential will never equal your standard of achievement. This caused my perfectionist self great distress. In the past, I would only measure success in subjective terms, such as scores, grades, or outside recognition. I have worked hard to change this about myself. I will always hold myself to a high standard, because I hate wasted potential, but I understand now that the standard should not be determined by outside forces. The change in my view and my receptivity to this saying is indicative of my own personal growth in dealing with when I “underachieve”. Now, I have concluded that the essence of this belief is that subjective achievement should not be the primary focus in life, and instead true self gratification comes from being sympathetic to oneself and measuring success with effort, of which I completely agree.