Free Republic

BERLIN (AP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country’s difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic — from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules — on “a tendency toward perfectionism” and called for greater flexibility to tackle the latest surge in cases. In a lengthy television interview with public broadcaster ARD late Sunday, Merkel acknowledged that mistakes were made by her government, including on plans for an Easter lockdown.

  The Tyranny of the Ideal David C. Stolinsky Dec. 1, 2011 Anderson Cooper: So what system do you want? Michael Moore: Well, there's no system right now that exists. We're going to create that system.− News item, 2011 I am confident that we can create a Kingdom right here on Earth. − Barack Obama, 2007 We are not talking about ideals − deeply held values that guide us in life. We are talking about the ideal − the ideal spouse, the ideal candidate, the ideal nation. If we compare our spouse, our candidate, or our nation to these...

Anthony Sweat's honest treatment of the religious teen's insecurities opens with a confession: "When I was a teenager, I was afraid to die." After all, which kingdom would God deem him worthy of? Terrestrial? Telestial? Sweat, a veteran LDS educator who currently teaches seminary at West High in Salt Lake City, has seen his share of high school students struggling to make sense of the afterlife, has experienced fear of the unknown himself. But he was troubled when nearly half of Mormon youths he polled in his classes felt they fell tremendously short of celestial criteria; how some even felt...

Some researchers divide perfectionists into three types, based on answers to standardized questionnaires: Self-oriented strivers who struggle to live up to their high standards and appear to be at risk of self-critical depression; outwardly focused zealots who expect perfection from others, often ruining relationships; and those desperate to live up to an ideal they’re convinced others expect of them, a risk factor for suicidal thinking and eating disorders. “It’s natural for people to want to be perfect in a few things, say in their job — being a good editor or surgeon depends on not making mistakes,” said Gordon L....

'Perfectionism' bowel pain link Women are more prone to IBS Perfectionists are more prone to developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) after an infection, a study has suggested. University of Southampton researchers asked 620 people with gastroenteritis about stress and their illness. Those who pushed themselves or were particularly anxious about symptoms were more likely to develop IBS. Experts said the study, published in Gut, may explain why only some people develop IBS after a gut infection. About 5% of the UK population have IBS. Up to one in 10 people develop it after a having a bacterial gut infection, having...

Karen Kain, Canadian prima ballerina, confessed in her autobiography that out of some 10,000 performances during her career, there were only seven or eight with which she was truly satisfied. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, the American commander during World War II, loathed admitting defeat and once uttered during battle, "We are not retreating — we are advancing in another direction." Martha Stewart, the notoriously demanding lifestyle maven-cum-felon, once threatened to dump her Merrill Lynch stockbroker because she didn't like the firm's telephone hold music. Kain. MacArthur. Stewart. Perfectionists all. Perfectionism is the need to be — or to appear — perfect....

<p>For 25 years, a difficult-neighbor problem plagued Curtis and Elaine Colvin of Seattle. The neighbor's home and lawn resembled a junkyard. Finally, last spring, the elderly man was taken out of state by relatives.</p> <p>Konstantinos Apostolou bought the house — and sent in five men to clear the floor-to-ceiling junk. "It was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen in my life," says his son, George Apostolou. There was nowhere to walk, except for a narrow "goat path" connecting the rooms. The men hauled out seven Dumpsters' worth of clothes, books, magazines, spoiled food, firewood, car parts, tires, bank statements and 50-year-old tax records. "I feel bad for the guy," says Apostolou. "I'm sure he was ill."</p>