nailing it

You've probably heard the saying When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. A variation of that was running through my head all night: When you feel like a nail, everything looks like a hammer.

what seems obvious in the morning light is that some part of me must think I have to be perfect, and is expecting me to figure out how to make everyone like me, including hammers who will never like me no matter how hard I try, as well as nails who will accuse me of being a hammer no matter what I do.

This feels like a Zen koan. I don't think I can solve it in the world of hammers and nails. I have to go deeper within and unplug myself from this need to be liked. Maybe then I can get busy doing something more interesting with my time and energy than trying to convince hammers that I am not a nail, and nails that I am not a hammer.