Not perfect

I have to share with you a portion of a newsletter I read today that I found so refreshing!  This article was written by M. Colleen Klimczak, a Certified Professional Organizer in my local area.  The full newsletter can be viewed here: http://www.peaceofmindpo.com/index_files/Page315.htm. 

What did I find so refreshing?  This section: "So, as is often the case, I learn every day from my own life and clients, and apply what I hope to teach you to my own life, too. Are you a perfectionist-and-therefore- procrastinator? Don’t be embarrassed, you are in good company including most of my clients and me personally. I realized yesterday that I am so focused on checking things off my list, so wrapped up in the perfectionism, that I am not actually enjoying my Christmas Season, though. So that changes today. I will mix up the To-Do List with the “To-Enjoy or To-Play” List and I will accept that “good enough” is better than “Perfect but Miserable”. And I hope you can do the same. That is my wish for all of you."

First of all, I think it is great that she is embracing life and making choices to enjoy things.  It is sweet that she wants us all to come to the realization that she, herself, has arrived at.  Above all, I love that she bares herself to us, her readers.  No mask here.  She admits that she can, and does, miss the mark.  Isn't that a great peek into the life that we tend to generalize about?  I'm not sure if we all do it, but I can guess that a good number of us would assume that a 'professional organizer' is a super organized, nearly perfect individual, would you not?  I think that as women, we tend to always think that 'someone else' (that person can vary) has it all together.  We tend to judge ourselves by measuring our accomplishments, or our habits, or our gifts and talents, to someone else.  Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing to just accept ourselves, flaws and imperfections and all? 

There is an acronym that I love, and have mentioned before in this blog (because I find it so free-ing!).  I think it is a fitting way to end this post: 

"I would not want to aspire to perfection, as it is an unattainable and futile goal. Instead we teach people to aspire to be NEATER*:

•Not perfect, but…
•Effective — your systems work well for you and your family
•Always improving- -you look for how to do things smarter, faster, and better
•True to your style– you work with your own preferences, not someone else’s standards
•Efficient– your systems minimize waste of time and energy
•Ready for anything– you are well-prepared with what you need for life and work

(The NEATER acronym © 2005-2007, LivingOrder, Inc ) To learn more about the NEATER acronym, visit http://www.clutterdietblog.com/2009/11/n-is-for-not-perfect.html and the "recent posts" detailing each letter thoroughly.