Why do we strive for perfection?

I believe most people strive for perfection so they can be the perfect person that the world around them wants them to be. Although, I think you should just be yourself and who you want yourself to be, it is the people around you and the pressure to be "perfect" that takes over. I, myself, know that my parents are a big part of my struggle for perfection. I want to be everything they want me to be and more. In both academics and athletics, my parents push me to do my best and I understand that, but when I try my hardest and am still told that anything in the B range is unacceptable, it's a little disappointing. No one wants to be a disappointment to their parents. It's a struggle to be the person everyone wants you to be, so you just have to be who you want to be. It's your life. When I know I haven't put forth my best effort, that's when I get disappointed at myself. I will say that I put enough pressure on myself because I want to do my best all the time and I guess you could say when it comes to school work that I am quite a perfectionist. I like to be very organized too, that way it is easy to find what I need in my room. The people around me, such as friends and teachers, put just as much pressure on you for perfection as your parents do. You have a certain label on you in high school and you are expected to get a certain grade on your tests or perform a certain way in an important game. I think perfectionism is okay in some cases, if you put it on yourself to do your best, and as long as it doesn't completely control you. I understand there are wrong reasons to strive for perfection, but you can lift those pressures off of you by thinking about what is best for you personally. I set goals for myself and then try to abide by them throughout everything I do in my life, academically, athletically, and socially. Yes, you will not always be perfect, but it is the faults and mistakes we make in our lives that we learn from to fix our problems and become better people. And to the people that really matter, you will always be perfect, even with your faults. Lastly, people strive for perfection so they can bring up their ego and popularity status. Everyone wishes to be popular in their life. I have never once wished that. I just hope that my friends are my real friends and will accept me for who I am. I have been mediocre my whole life in the stereotypical high school scale of popularity and I am perfectly fine with it. As long as I have a supporting group of friends and family, I am perfectly happy with my life.