Besides being unattainable, perfection might seem pretty good. A lot of things are very appealing about it. What makes something or someone perfect though? Is it their looks? Is it their social life? Is it their accomplishments? Is it a combination of them all? Is it even possible to achieve all of that? These are the questions that run through my mind when I think about perfection. These thoughts are then of course followed by, How can I be perfect? The real question is, however you define perfection, what are the sacrifices you have to make to achieve that?

They say that in college you can only have two of theses three: school, social life, or sleep. It's pretty impossible to excel in all three because there's not enough hours in the day. I've pretty much decided I'm pretty good at school, and sleep is my favorite, and I have a tame social life because I don't have a lot of time to be social. However, life works similarly.

Can you really achieve excellence in multiple things or can you only be well rounded if you're mediocre in everything? As Edwin Bliss said, "The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time." What if you're aiming for perfection in everything? Well, in that case, you'd probably be unfulfilled your entire life. I'm only saying this because I know from experience that going on journey to achieve perfection will only tear you apart.

Think about those who get really great grades and are excellent students. Excellence in school is a wonderful thing, but if you're using success in school is your measure of perfection, then it might not be so wonderful. What does a perfectionist student deem acceptable? The answer is not much. There's very little wiggle room for your grades when you're in pursuit of perfection. It's a lot easier to get straight As and a perfect ACT score if you've exiled yourself in order to achieve your goals. Is the obsession worth it, though? Then again, is getting Cs a fair trade off for a social life?

Of course, some people can balance it all but, often times, these people are the kind of students who can get As without studying until their brains go numb. A perfectionist will never see themselves as perfect, so what happens when they've reached their goals and are still falling short of their standards? The 17-year-old me traded my happiness to get the grades and ACT score I wanted, but I still don't consider myself smart. I still feel like I've fallen short of my goals because there will always be the next level up that is even harder to achieve.

There are people with "The Perfect Body" plastered all over Instagram. We look at their pictures and say, OMG she's perfect! Goals, but are they really our goals? Should that be our goals? Is a perfect body equivalent to a perfect life? I wonder what sacrifices these models made to have the perfect body if they were not born with one. Even Victoria's Secret Angels say that it isn't all genetics; they have to work really hard to get their bodies. There are a lot of models who eat really strict diets and follow very intense exercise routines. Models are thinner than 98 percent of American women.

I remember the days where I would eat little to nothing, run every morning before school, and then go to all my after school dance classes. I know that it wasn't healthy, but I remember the gratification I felt when someone told me I had the perfect body. I also remember the complete and utter sadness when I looked in the mirror and saw someone that was as far from perfect as humanly possible in my eyes. Perfection isn't healthy.

It's pretty impossible to be perfectly well rounded and excel at every single thing you do, but is that the perfect life? Is perfection just pretending to be perfect? Is it cutting corners in everything trying to just be pretty good at everything, but not really phenomenal at anything? Perfection is not really a real thing, so is the closest we can get to it just making ourselves appear perfect to the outsider? Will the constant charade drive you mad? Will never truly being the best in anything push you over the edge?

There will always be someone prettier, smarter, or more talented than you. This article is by no means meant to make someone abandon any dreams, but it is only meant to make you think about the sacrifices you might be making in order to achieve so-called perfection. Maybe, you're living life in completely healthy manner, but if you are risking your mental or physical or mental health, is perfection worth your life?