Willing to let go of Perfection

I have been recovering from a disease, a disease for the desire for perfection that results in becoming stuck, frozen, and immobile any time I realize I cannot do things perfectly. In the past I found the easiest way to get unstuck was to turn around in the complete opposite direction as I'd been going in...this could also be known as Quitting.

Yesterday I found another alternative "treatment", an alternative I knew about and sometimes forgot about, but even when I did remember I often did not take advantage of it anyway. And that solution, that cure to my disease that froze me into a state of immobility...is to let go of perfection, to be willing to just get things done even if it means I don't have the beautiful, wonderful, fabulous, looks like it came out of a sweet dream quality, I wish it would have.

This time I was willing to accept the alternative treatment more fully as a friend helped me understand how I reacted when I clung to this disease, why I did, and who I would be without it. (note: here in this post the word disease = unrealistic and/or negative thoughts)

If you've seen my post below about some things I have recently listed for sale on etsy, that is the direct result of learning/choosing how to let go of perfection and be willing to experience that imperfection. I have seriously been putting off this task for months because I knew I could not make the photos, the descriptions, etc. meet up to my "perfect" standard. (Which would probably mean to try to make it look like it came out from a magazine.)

I would love for the pics I took to be better than just in focus and the lighting decent...I would love the pics to be so amazing that you hardly want to look away from them and you itch to buy the items shown. I'll look at other pics on etsy or on some of my favorite blogs or online stores and wish I could accomplish things like they do. And sometimes I try...and then I Freeze! So for the sake of getting things done, for the sake of peace of mind and sanity, for the good of my health, my heart, and the good of my bank account, and so much more, I am willing to let perfection go. I will always strive to improve and do better than before. But striving for the impossible to the point where I make myself sick over it, or I actually lose my job over it (bye bye job writing for a local newspaper because I was terrified of not being perfect), and all the other many ways this disease has impacted my life is just not something I am willing to put up with from myself anymore. I think I deserve better. I think I deserve to have a life. And without "perfection" I think I have a chance of having one...one that is happy, peaceful, and carefree.

So the work I do won't look as wonderful as if it came out of a magazine. But it will be a good job. And it will get done.

The first step is to admit you have a problem. The second is to let it go...