Latter-day Saint Life

Elder Cook Shares One Dangerous Misconception About Perfection Mormons Need to Stop, Now

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Comparing ourselves to others is easy. It's easy to augment our own faults when we idealize the strengths of others, especially on social media. 

But comparing ourselves to others and thinking we have to be perfect all the time often does more harm than good. 

As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said in his 2011 general conference address "Forget Me Not," no one is perfect, and as Elder Quentin L. Cook points out in his recent Facebook post, you don't have to be perfect at everything to be happy. 

In our lives, we often compare ourselves with the A+ performers in each category that we value, and then we feel inadequate and unsuccessful in what we are doing. There always seems to be somebody who seems to be better, in one way or another. Social media often exacerbates these perceptions and comparisons.
I would ask, do we have to be an A in everything to be happy? Do we have to be so hard on ourselves? The scriptures address happiness, but not in terms of material or academic success, skill, or professional achievements.
In Mosiah 2:41, King Benjamin taught: “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.”

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