I’ve been a proponent of the “good enough” attitude for the last ten years or so. In part, because that is when child number three came along, and my husband and I were outnumbered (a friend called it “learning to play zone”).
The bigger issue is that I have a healthy dose of perfectionism in my makeup. I’ve needed to learn how to balance that tendency, how to take a step back and take a breath, how to accept “good enough” for the sake of the bigger picture (and those around me).
Today, I’m feeling a little slovenly and unkempt, and I’m wondering if I’ve gone too far in the other direction. The house is messy; I’m in my pajamas; I fell back to sleep instead of getting up to exercise this morning; my child went to school arguing and without his lunchbox; boxes still sit around the house waiting to be fully unpacked. I could go on, but you get the idea.
My intuition tells me that all of these things are okay in and of themselves. And if I were blissfully content with this scenario, if I had happy and carefree children heading out the door to school, if I felt fulfilled and on track - all of these less than ideal details would feel okay.
Instead, I’m irritable and irritated with myself. And I feel like I can’t get out of my own way.
It would be very easy to start giving myself a hard time - I may have done a little of that already. But here I am choosing the hit the PAUSE button on the self-critique because I know nothing constructive or helpful will come of it.
I’m also not going to step into wallowing - feeling badly that I feel badly and suggesting to myself to go back to bed.
Like always, I am at choice in this scenario. It’s very helpful even just to recognize that fact. Even better, I get to act on it. So for today, I’m going to choose GET SOME SHIT DONE.
I’ve just written a little list of things to get done today (starting with a shower), and I’m going to start working on it. Will I get to everything on the list, probably not. Will I be in better shape for feeling less slovenly and unkempt? Very likely.
And for today, that will be good enough.
What are you choosing today?
The bigger issue is that I have a healthy dose of perfectionism in my makeup. I’ve needed to learn how to balance that tendency, how to take a step back and take a breath, how to accept “good enough” for the sake of the bigger picture (and those around me).
Today, I’m feeling a little slovenly and unkempt, and I’m wondering if I’ve gone too far in the other direction. The house is messy; I’m in my pajamas; I fell back to sleep instead of getting up to exercise this morning; my child went to school arguing and without his lunchbox; boxes still sit around the house waiting to be fully unpacked. I could go on, but you get the idea.
My intuition tells me that all of these things are okay in and of themselves. And if I were blissfully content with this scenario, if I had happy and carefree children heading out the door to school, if I felt fulfilled and on track - all of these less than ideal details would feel okay.
Instead, I’m irritable and irritated with myself. And I feel like I can’t get out of my own way.
It would be very easy to start giving myself a hard time - I may have done a little of that already. But here I am choosing the hit the PAUSE button on the self-critique because I know nothing constructive or helpful will come of it.
I’m also not going to step into wallowing - feeling badly that I feel badly and suggesting to myself to go back to bed.
Like always, I am at choice in this scenario. It’s very helpful even just to recognize that fact. Even better, I get to act on it. So for today, I’m going to choose GET SOME SHIT DONE.
I’ve just written a little list of things to get done today (starting with a shower), and I’m going to start working on it. Will I get to everything on the list, probably not. Will I be in better shape for feeling less slovenly and unkempt? Very likely.
And for today, that will be good enough.
What are you choosing today?
 | Jessica Curtis is a professional coach who helps people cultivate intention and live from a place of meaning and authenticity. If you think you could benefit from working with Jessica or want to invite her to work with your group, reach out to start a conversation. |
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