Good Enough is the New Perfect

Heard it on the CBS morning news in a viewer tweet… “Good Enough is the New Perfect.”
Oh my gosh… they had me at Good Enough.

I’ve never thought of myself as a perfectionist, but when I make a short list of the things that exhaust me, it’s all about trying to be perfect to please other people.
Grocery shopping (at multiple stores so I get the “right” salmon and the “best” balsamic vinegar).
Answering emails (I want them to feel my personality come through).
Mothering (don’t get me started).
Wifing (is that even a word?)

It’s all just so tiring.
What I want is the feeling that it’s OK to be average.

It feels scary to even consider being average.
To stop the fight.
To settle.

I think that if I’m not trying to excel, I will fall back into a murky melting pot of the masses and die a faceless “everyone” with gray, drab skin and gray, drab clothing.
Not that I’m overly dramatic.

But here’s the real truth.
I am average.
I am not the best in the world at anything.
I am somewhere below the top 5% and above the bottom 5%.
But the collection of things that makes me different and unique from other people is going to be there no matter what I do to strive to be exceptional.

Truth #2 – If I relax about trying to be perfect, and instead play and let myself really enjoy the things that make me happy, I will have more of a chance of becoming exceptional at something than following all of these rules I have created in my head.
If I don’t try so hard to be perfect, I end up closer to perfect.

So, the new thought I am choosing is: Stop the struggle: It’s like quicksand.
I’m enough.

Perfect is a moving target.
When I heard Brené Brown say that, “Perfection is a 20 ton shield. We carry it around thinking it’s going to protect us from being hurt. But it protects us from being seen.” That hit home.
I want to be seen.
Even when my bloomers are showing.

Put your shield down. Hike up your bloomers. Join us Good-Enoughers.