Gettin' all new-agey on you

A quote from a tiny little book I've been nibbling from, Notes to Myself: My Struggle to Become a Person by Hugh Prather.

Perfectionism is slow death. If everything
were to turn out just like I would want
it to, jus tlike I would plan for it to,
then I would never experience anything
new; my life would be an endless repetition
of stale successes. When I make a mistake
I experience something unexpected.

I sometimes react to making a mistake
as if I have betrayed myself. My fear of
making a mistake seems to be based on the
hidden assumption that I am potentially
perfect and that if I can just be very
careful I will not fall form heaven.
But a "mistake" is a declaration of the
way I am, a jolt to the way I intend, a
reminder I am not dealing with the facts.
When I have listened to my mistakes I
have grown.