Smile-breaks
Perfectionism Goes Out with the Old Year
I was in denial until I caught myself reaching across three pews full of people to straighten the flowers on the lady’s print blouse. That’s when I knew.
My mom warned me many, many times about the downside of being stubborn. She never gave me a clue about the pitfalls of perfectionism. Well, why would anyone design a blouse with upside-down flowers on it anyway? Some of them were sideways, but still…
Wow! Antonio Gates just ran through snow and sleet and eight Cleveland Browns for a touchdown! What a - ’scuse me - what a perfect run!
So like I was saying before Antonio took off down the field, why would anyone design a blouse with upside-down flowers? Leaves - that would be different. They always go upside down in the fall. But I’ve never seen an upside-down flower – not even in a floral arrangement. Maybe the designer expected the wearer of the blouse to stand on her head every now and then. Activewear…
Oh well, it’s just a blouse and the Chargers aren’t Brees-ing through this game, but they’re looking like a win so they could have a perfect season. Well, almost perfect.
One of the big problems with perfectionism is that it takes so much time. I’m running late; we have to be at the school program in ten minutes but the pin on my jacket is kind of at a slant. Not much of a slant, but definitely a slant. A slight slant. Prob’ly no one would notice, but it isn’t straight.
Now this pin isn’t easy to put on in the first place. I know darn well if I mess with it, I’m gonna be late and still have a crooked pin on my jacket ’cause by the time I get done, it’ll slant just a little to the other side. But I persist anyway and get it as straight as I can and walk out of the room. I almost make it. Three steps before the door I turn around and head back toward the mirror. It’ll only take a minute to get it really straight and it’ll look so much better.
And then of course I also have to get to wherever-it-is-I’m-going on time. It’s tough for me, but it’s a heckuva lot tougher on my live-in spouse in the other room, waiting for me to come dashing into the room at the last possible moment and announce, “I’m ready to go!” When I do, he’s smack in the middle of a suspense-filled paragraph in the latest J. A. Jance mystery and he’s not gonna budge until he finds out if she escaped with her shoes.
It’s no better at work. I put together a report for the two o’clock meeting. Looks fine. Easy to scan and get the information quickly. It’s accurate. I print it out. Now, if I’d just grab it and run it into the meeting - but no, I have to glance it over. Make sure everything’s in place. No typos. No missing numbers. So at two minutes after two I rush into the meeting with freshly printed reports. A few changes – perked up the title, added dollar signs to the interest totals, bolded the headings…
It’s been a good year in spite of my addiction to perfectionism and I’m really looking forward to the New Year ’cause not only do I have the Chargers to watch in the division playoffs, but I’ve also made the best resolution of my life: I’m gonna work on this perfectionism problem and become a happy, well-rounded Imperfectionist by the end of the year. I know if I work at it hard enough, I can do it perfectly.