I was listening to a Jewish radio program in my car today by a Rabbi Barzilai. He talks about chinuch, and today's topic was perfectionism. I'm pretty sure he said that the following is from Gemorah, but I can't say for certain.

Every creature in this world is able to be self-sufficient within a few days of birth. Flies are created and they know what they need to do to survive. Cats, dogs, raccoons, birds, mice, etc. - doesn't take them more than a few days to figure out what they need and they're set for life.

There's one exception - humans, the king of the "animal kingdom". It takes months before a human can eat food. It takes several more months before we can eat with a spoon without getting the food all over ourselves. Walking? Not so simple. To learn how to be self-sufficient takes years. How much schooling does it take? About 20 years, and even then we still don't have life figured out!

How can that be? Does it make any sense? The lowliest creature learns everything instantaneously and the one highest up the chain is floundering around for years??

The answer is very simple. Hashem sees very little value in things that don't require work. It comes naturally? You do it instinctively? Big deal. We weren't put in this world for that. We were put in this world to give it our best shot, to put in every bit of effort we have. It's not the achievement that matters, but the effort that was put in that Hashem really values. The effort itself is the target we should be aiming for. That is the goal.

Hashem could have made us perfect spiritual beings like Malachim. Instead, He made us as complicated imperfect creations, to show us that He wants us to make an effort to reach our goals. If we stumble and fall on the way, so be it. Our job is to keep pushing, one step at a time.