The Upside Of Perfect

Mary-Elaine Jacobsen writes about the character traits of the gifted adult on TDR. Looking at perfectionism, she observes:

...there is quite a distinction between unhealthy and healthy forms of perfectionism, the latter being present in many gifted individuals...In fact, fulfillment and pleasure may well be linked to painstaking effort and unconstrained use of one's gifted abilities.

This is an important distinction every perfectionist should grok. Otherwise, he or she misses out on the "painstaking effort and unconstrained use of one's gifted abilities" as a very necessary avenue of self-realization. Perfectionism becomes identified as yet another item on an endless list of imperfections.

Jacobsen has written a book on her intriguing and evidently controversial concept of the gifted adult.