After I wrote last week about Good Enough, I read all the comments and took in a lot of the feedback I got. I ended up thinking mostly about perfection, the desire for it, and the stress that desire can cause. Things aren’t just good enough. They’re good.
Last week, in the midst of my bad week, hubby came home with a dozen roses for me.
And today, my daughter picked me a bouquet of flowers from the yard
I appreciated both, because they were both given with love. The feeling behind them was exactly the same, so one is not better or more beautiful than the other. Just as with so many other things in my life, if I focus on important things like people, love, relationships, I will find beauty in imperfection.
A few ways to let go of perfection:
Forget the to do list – drop everything for a day and go to the beach. It’s more fun than mopping floors and the memories will last forever.
Stop reading magazines – it’s nearly impossible to pick up a magazine that isn’t telling you all the ways to be better.
Talk to friends – It always makes me feel better to talk to my friends, who are grounded and real, to know that the things I think about and worry about are nearly universal. Knowing that we all struggle makes it easier to be gracious with myself.
Let the dishes pile up – the sky won’t fall, the world won’t end. And even if someone stops by unexpected, I bet they’ll love you anyway.
Be Grateful – When I focus on the good things around me and the things I have done well, it’s easier to let go of the things that aren’t as great. I keep a gratitude journal and it keeps my perspective where I like it.
What about you? Is this something you struggle with? What would you add?
I have had to make rules for myself to prevent trying to achieve in areas that are not the most important to me. Blogging, for instance. Love it, but it could consume every waking moment between thinking about the posts, creating them, visiting, commenting, twittering and all that goes along with being online. So, I force myself to skip days online as a way to keep myself from overdoing in an area that can be tempting. I COULD do another post, visit more people or twitter or whatever, but I chose not to. Balance is more important to me than being super blogger.
This applies to other areas of my life too. Perfectionists won’t quit because there is always MORE we can do to make something better. We are never satisfied. So I have to draw the line on things so I know when to say WHEN.
Love your list!
melissa @ the inspired room´s last blog post..Spring Time Tea Parties
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This is a great post. I have such difficulty be gracious to myself. Life is short and perfection can make it shorter and unpleasant as well.
My husband says when I moan about not having the dishes done, “Just throw them all out. ”
jan´s last blog post..Pattern for summer.
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“Excellence over perfection” is a motto I try to live by. However, I often forget and just keep going for perfection. And I have a hard time being gracious to myself. I’m a lot more forgiving with other people than I am with myself–I’ve been trying to find a way to silence the bully that lives inside my head.
Kirwin´s last blog post..30 ways to say I love you
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I struggle with perfection — especially with the wedding we’re planning. To combat it, I try to evaluate how I feel about each decision. If it doesn’t make me happy, it gets tossed. For example, I talked to a florist the other day about wedding flowers. Everything we talked about made me feel like we were adding too much or going too far, even though flowers are expected at most weddings. So I figured that we’ll scale WAY back and be done. No more worrying about it.
SavvyChristine´s last blog post..Old Calendar, Simple Advice
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I’m thankful for Ben went he says ‘to heck with the dishes, woman, come sit beside me and hold my hand.’ Fact is he says it more often than not. I wish I treated myself that good.
Sandhill Sis´s last blog post..“The Best Laid Plans Of Mice and Men…
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Thanks for giving me ‘permission’ to skip the dishes now and again. I have it somehow ingrained in my brain that you cannot go to bed at night unless the kitchen is clean, the coffee pot set and everything ready for the next day. Thank God, I have a wonderful laid back husband who just turns up the music and asks me to come and dance in the living room with him and the kids! I need to slow down more and just enjoy! Love your blog.
Denise in NC
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I can’t think of a better example of your point than both of those gorgeous bouquets. Your first point is really hitting a nerve with me. Like, why *don’t* I drop everything and just have fun? All things in moderation, including moderation.
It’s really been on my mind this last week that when I’m old, what I’ll really want isn’t a boatload of cash for security (just enough to live comfortably on), but a life of fantastic memories to look back on.
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I have come to a huge decision about my personal definition of Perfection. ( who defines what is perfect, or ‘good enough for me’ anyway? Isn’t it little old me, at the end?)
I decided that I would do my best, given my circumstance. So if today was a ‘smooth’ day and I get to clean up AND do the dishes, Perfect! Some days are crazy hectic and we don’t get to our ‘wish-list’, that’s good enough, because we made it through our day.
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I’ve been visiting your blog now and then for a while and enjoy it very much. Today’s post made me laugh out loud…I LOVE the photos of the flower arrangements. And how SWEET the one from your daughter is. The photo says it all…so sweet.
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