Growing up, I’ve always struggled with feeling like everything needs to be perfect. When I was younger, my OCD was more apparent in the way I lined up my sneakers and arranged my pens in a specific way on my desk. As I have grown older, though, I feel that OCD has taken a larger presence in my life.
I’m constantly worrying that I forgot to do something or triple-checking tasks that don’t even need checking; it can be exhausting sometimes. It’s not uncommon for me to spend hours completing tasks that should have only taken minutes, because of the level of intensity and detail required due to statistical predictions and information overload.
Recently I’ve noticed that this behavior has been interfering with my daily life. In certain areas, such as math and organization of any kind, OCD puts me at an advantage. But other times it can leave me feeling paralyzed due to not being able to risk making a mistake or picking wrong choice.
My biggest challenge has been learning how not to be so hard on myself when things don’t turn out exactly the way I’ve expected them to, but rather having patience with myself and understanding those mistakes are part of the journey. It can take a lot of time and practice but day by day I get closer to being okay with imperfection - which is no small feat!