This discussion reminded me of sitting in my advisor's office at the beginning of college. As he was looking at test scores and the credits I came in with, he suggested that I should consider the honors program. My immediate reaction was that I wasn't actually qualified for it, I certainly wouldn't measure up to the other kids in the program, it would be too hard. So I didn't apply. In retrospect (and esp. recently as I learn more about giftedness for my dds) I was perfectly well-qualified and it would have been a better fit. I had spent years pretending I wasn't weird and dorky (but that is another thread ;))and being allowed to quit when I couldn't do something perfectly and it did not serve me well.
I do think as referenced above that learning to play an instrument has been very helpful for my dd9 with perfectionism. Good luck!
