“Good enough” is a gift I offer you this holiday season. I invite you to accept it, embrace it and use it – now and throughout the rest of the year.
When you really get comfortable with it – good enough is amazing and freeing. Perfection only really exists in the most special and exquisite ways – like the way a new baby, a flower or a sunset is perfect. When we try to be perfect it is pretty hard to ever completely hit the mark.
This is on my mind as this time of year can be incredibly stressful for some folks. Preparing all the special foods, searching for the perfect gifts, cleaning and entertaining. These can be fun, busy and joyful – or not. Perfect can be the enemy of the good, and trying to make everything just right can be exhausting and unsatisfying.
There may be a gender issue here, too. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when I go to the pool on Christmas Eve day or Thanksgiving, I’m usually the only woman swimming. One year when I remarked on this as another lone female swimmer arrived she remarked: “Well, of course, women are all at home doing the work!” Yikes. Unfortunately, so much darn work really tarnishes the joy of the season.
Can you be satisfied with “good enough”? How about just doing those things that you really like and not fussing too much with the rest? The conversations you will enjoy over the holiday are special because of the company, not the table setting.
If you’re taking on tasks because of the expectations of others and wearing yourself to a nub – please stop it. Pare down. Ask for help. Just don’t do some of the things that really wear you out.
If you can accept “good enough” during the holidays you can bring that to other areas of your life. The good enough resume may still get you the job. The meals you offer are special because you made them, not because they look like they should be featured in a magazine. You are enough. Your efforts are good. Good enough.
Enjoy the holidays – I mean it!