Trying to be great at everything inevitably ends in failure

  Everyone wants to be great, and I know that.  Some people get as far as thinking it would be nice, others are the best in their respective career, and others are better than average in their hobbies.  I know there are quite a few moms and dads who are #1 according to their coffee mug.  Striving to be the best is at the heart of being ambitious or competitive, and it is essential to the progress of humanity.  For those of us who will not be the best, there is still a desire to still be good or at least not the worst.  I am never going to be the best chemical engineer or the best triathlete in the world.  I can accept that, I think.  But, can I come to accept that there are things I will simply fail at?  It takes a brave woman to look at her life and truly understand where she is weakest.  I am afraid to really open my eyes and look at the areas of my life where I will never succeed.
  I want to be a good wife, a good engineer, a good daughter, a good athlete, a good housekeeper, a good cook, a good friend, and a good citizen.  Of course, I actually want to be better at all these things than I am, and that desire has lead me to become over-controlling, and afraid of failure.  What will happen if I am not a good cook?  What will happen if I don't make enough time for a friend?  What if I can't reach my race goal?  What if I make a mistake at work? Do I need to get anxious because I cannot do everything perfectly? Does it all fall apart?  It doesn't seem to.  The world doesn't stop spinning.  Perhaps someone "yells" at me.  Perhaps I feel disappointed in myself.  It leaves me in no worse shape than when I started.  If I strive to be perfect at everything, I should be prepared to fail.  I know that trying to do well is important, but it is the effort and not the end result that matters.  As long as I don't give up, I will continue to grow and become stronger, smarter, and nicer.  Unfortunately, I understand this only logically.  My guilt and self-hatered for being imperfect continues to run rampant in the emotional part of me. 
  I am giving myself a daily pep talk these days.  I try to tell myself that it is ok to make mistakes.  I avoid saying things like "who cares?" because, as it turns out, I care very deeply about these things, and it makes me feel even worse to think no one else notices.  Truthfully, I might be the only person who notices my efforts, and I will need to be okay with that one day too.  For now, I will just remind myself that to be imperfect is to be human, and I will probably do better on the next go around.