Confessions of a Former Perfectionist

One evening when I returned home from shopping, my husband, Larry, met me at the door, grinning. What's he up to? I wondered.

He led me into the kitchen and announced, "I did the dishes for you!"

As I hugged him and exclaimed, "Thank you!" I looked over his shoulder and noticed crumbs and drops of liquid on the counter.

But you haven't wiped the counter, I thought. You haven't finished the dishes! Before I could chastise him, I remembered how my struggles with perfectionism and impatience robbed me of enjoying and appreciating my wonderful husband. I thanked him again, determined not to allow his "mistakes" to bother me.

The next evening Larry did the dishes again. I realized he wouldn't have washed them a second time if I'd criticized him the day before. I witnessed again the power of affirming his attempts—even if they didn't meet my expectations.

Someone once said that a perfectionist is a person who takes great pains and passes them on to others. I would have given my husband a great pain that evening if I'd discounted his effort. Yet that's exactly what perfectionism does: It brings pain and destruction to our lives and marriages.

Throughout the first seven years of our marriage I struggled with perfectionist tendencies. Nothing Larry did was good enough. He wasn't a good enough provider—even though he worked two jobs to support our family while I stayed home with the kids. He didn't talk enough to me; he didn't help properly with the housework; he wasn't as concerned about my desires and expectations as I was. The list went on and on. My standards were set so high that Larry couldn't win—ever. Since Larry didn't meet all my needs, I believed I couldn't give him credit when he showed me love. Instead I focused on his inadequacies. No matter how Larry tried to please me, I found fault and pointed out his shortcomings to "motivate" him. I "punished" him with my displeasure by withholding sex, affection, joy.

My demands and impatience were destroying my marriage! Larry began to work more overtime, and when he was home, he tuned me out by reading or watching TV. My sense of failed expectations became so bad that I felt I didn't even love him anymore!

Then one day during my devotions, God opened my eyes to what I was doing. My behavior wasn't getting me what I wanted. So why was I continuing it? I'd thought, When Larry changes and meets my needs, then I can be joyful and content. But I realized he might never change! God wanted me to be joyful and content regardless.

From that day on I worked to reverse my attitude, become more patient, and strengthen our relationship by putting these four ideas into practice.

It's okay to give yourself a break.

I realized I couldn't give Larry a break, because I couldn't give myself one. Perfectionism can be called a kind of "dys-grace" or "ungrace" because it's the opposite of grace. Perfectionism says, I need to earn approval, while grace offers approval as a free gift.

I expected myself to be perfect because I felt God—and others!—required it. That pressure spilled into my marriage. From my perspective, I was striving for perfection—so my spouse should too!

Granting myself grace has been a gradual growth process. But if we believe that God understands our mistakes and messes—that he's willing to forgive—then we can stop expecting too much from ourselves and our spouse. In Philippians 1:6, the apostle Paul assures us God knows our weaknesses and won't give up on us: "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (NASB). As Christians, because we accepted that Jesus bore our sins when he died on the cross, you and I are already perfect in God's sight. We have nothing to prove; we're accepted.

It's okay to give your spouse a break.

Once I was able to understand that God grants me grace, I was able to offer grace and patience to my husband.

One day God helped me put that into practice. Larry, an amateur pilot, was out flying his plane while I was home cleaning the house. I sensed God say, "Tell Larry you love him." I was shocked. No! I thought. I don't love Larry. My unmet expectations had squelched my love—because love and a perfectionist attitude can't really coexist.

Besides, I thought, I haven't said those words to him in more than two years. If I say them now, he might think I approve of his negligence toward me and the kids. In my perfectionistic thinking since I didn't feel love for Larry all the time, I couldn't say I loved him.

Finally, I felt God whisper, "Think it the next time you see Larry."

That's strange, I thought. But if he doesn't hear me, then he can't use it against me. All right, Lord, I'll do it, even if it isn't true.

That evening when Larry returned, I stared at him, gulped, and thought, I love you … but I don't really.

Even though I obeyed God begrudgingly, an amazing thing happened. Over the following months, as I continued to think the words I love you whenever I looked at Larry, I began to feel love for him. I also recognized that I'd been holding Larry responsible for my happiness. As I received grace for myself and then offered it to Larry, my "all or nothing" thinking changed. I accepted the truth that Larry couldn't meet all my needs—only God could. In time, Larry noticed that I wasn't as angry and demanding. And our marriage became more comfortable and enjoyable for both of us.

It's okay to give positive feedback.

I remember one time when Larry was hanging pictures, I refrained from saying anything positive until all were placed precisely the way I wanted. I reasoned, If I tell Larry he's doing a great job before he's finished, he'll get lazy and not complete the project the way I need it done. I didn't realize I was discouraging him; I thought I was motivating him.

But excellence is doing our best with the resources at hand. Positive feedback is what really motivates my spouse—even in the middle of a project or when it may not be done as "perfectly" as I'd like! That's why I could say "thank you" the day he did the dishes, even though he hadn't wiped the counter. Years ago, I would have felt it was my duty to correct him immediately, withholding approval until the job was done exactly to my specifications.

When I sense the need to correct my spouse and withhold praise for the job he's done, I ask myself these questions: Is it really that important? Can I wait until another time when he isn't basking in the glory of his accomplishment? Waiting helps diminish those perfectionistic tendencies.

Once I began to lighten up, Larry confessed, "I used to think, Kathy is never satisfied no matter what I do, so I might as well give up trying to please her. I don't think that anymore. Now I want to please you because I know you'll appreciate it."

It's okay to be different.

While this is an obvious statement, it was a shocker for me to grasp: My spouse views life differently than I do. I always believed Larry saw life from my perspective. And since there was only one way of doing things, he should do them the right way—my way!

My viewpoint took a 180 degree turn, however, after a friend gave Larry and me a personality test. After we finished, we discovered our temperaments and learning styles are different.

My temperament, combined with my perfectionism, makes me want to over-analyze all the facts before making a decision. And then I constantly second-guess myself. Larry's temperament enables him to make fast decisions and feel confident about them. Before, I'd thought fast decision-making indicated he wasn't sensitive to my opinions.

The test stressed that different is different; it's not necessarily wrong. It didn't mean he was insensitive to my opinions. As I recognized that Larry and I view situations differently—and that's okay!—I became more patient, loving, and kind toward him. I have to remind myself that there are several ways to do something—not just my way. As someone once said, "Two plus two may equal four. But so does three plus one."

While sometimes it still frustrates me that he "can't get his act together," I rely on patience and grace. I ask myself, Is this because we define "act" differently? Are different motives energizing us? Then I take a look at my answers. Usually, I'm the one who's more rigid, so I stop taking his behavior personally, back off, and accept our differences.

Now that Larry and I have been married 35 years, we look back on that time 28 years ago when my perfectionism brought "great pains" into our relationship with gratitude for God's healing. By changing my viewpoint and giving grace and patience to myself and to my husband, I've learned to appreciate him. Now I express my love many times a day—and so does he. And yes, we even rejoice in our differences!

Kathy Collard Miller is author of Why Do I Put So Much Pressure on Myself and Others? Visit Kathy at www.KathyCollardMiller.com.

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