Accepting awkwardness
What is important is trying to live a better life, not a perfect life. You must tell this to your mind.
However, by saying this I am not suggesting that you can study half-heartedly or work in a disorderly fashion. When I say, “You do not have to live a complete or perfect life,” some people may take too lenient an attitude believing that it is alright if their work is not the best they can do and act on that assumption, only to be reprimanded by their boss afterward. They may then get depressed and feel the urge to commit suicide.
So, to prevent this from happening I would like to make it quite clear that I am not recommending that one studies or works in a lax manner.
But if any of you are suffering remorse in your soul, severely blaming yourself for some reason to the extent that you are unable to sleep at nights, I want to tell you that you should not strive just for perfection. Eighty percent perfection is fine; somehow try to get through this difficult time. It is important to choose a better life, rather than a complete and perfect life, a life without fault or blemish.
While you are aiming to develop spiritually toward Buddha or God, you are not a Buddha or God Himself. As long as you live in this world, you cannot avoid making mistakes every day and experience suffering. So you should aim to live a better life.
While we humans are the children of Buddha and God, we are imperfect, awkward creatures in this world. We should know this and accept ourselves as struggling to live. You are allowed to be like that since you are currently undergoing soul training and are studying in the school of the soul. It is important that you bear your imperfection and nurture a forgiving heart.
From "The Laws of Great Enlightenment" by Ryuho Okawa