Perfection can’t be wrong, can it? But perfectionism, obsession?
Surely any form or degree of OCPD (Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder) is bad isn’t it?
Ordering my cutlery drawer this way started a couple of months ago. I gave the pair of scissors a very precise place in the drawer: not only in its own compartment, but also with the grip vertical, not horizontal. Since then I can grab that thing sitting at the kitchen/breakfast table without having to get up or even look!
The next step came just before I took this photo. I took out the cutlery to clean the drawer. And this came with shifting perspectives: only now I realised in most compartments there are utensils with different purposes.
I could simply sort them accordingly and ‘harvest’ time! Kind of a reward. After I looked at the photo came another reward: beauty. Talk about shifting perspectives.
The time saving is of course not very great and the beauty in that photo was kind of a fluke. Thanks in large part to the LED lighting that I installed behind my recently purchased Natural Water Purifying System. I asked my wise older brother if I should be concerned about the pleasure I got from that perfection in the drawer.
He responded with some restraint. And that was enough to realize why this almost obsessive ordering was so pleasant to me. This tendency towards perfection is to me the complete opposite of annoyance; Anger at myself. Since then I have welcomed this ‘perfectionism’.
DYSPHORIA?
But am I actually suffering from a form of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder? Definitely not.
However, I can and want to achieve more in the few decades that I am still alive. That’s why I set the bar high.
And yes: the average man tends more towards autism than the average woman. By analogy ambition does not come without a form of perfectionism.
And don’t forget: dysphoria is only the opposite of euphoria, it is not a personality disorder. (See also my first post here on transgenderism).
And so reading about ‘coping with OCPD’ could be helpful to ambitious types like me.
. Practicing self-care: If you have OCPD, it can be easy to neglect yourself while you focus on your current project. Consider making self-care a regular part of your day.
Quote from the site verywellmind.com
. Trying mindfulness and meditation: Mindfulness can help you spot times when perfectionism is causing anxiety, for example, so you can take steps to calm yourself. Meditation pairs well with mindfulness, and it’s an effective stress reliever.
That is good advice. In fact practising meditation is part of the method the magnificent Wim Hof teaches. Maybe except for Johan Cruyff Wim is my most famous compatriot. He is better known as ‘The Iceman’. Search for him on yourself! I met him three times and to my delight the last time (in a place called Roelofarendsveen) he recognised me and my brother.
Truly a great man. He is – rightly – so confident that he sometimes wears an outfit that emphasizes his modest height.
