For years it has bothered me if I can't do something 100% (or at least close to it). For example, when I clean, I always feel the need to do a really thorough job, when I run or exercise it needs to be at least 4 miles or an hour in length, when I design or write something it needs to be exact and uniform, when I blog the photos and content need to be edited and scripted well, when I read the scriptures it needs to be for a significant amount of time, etc.
Having a baby has loosened me up a bit. I have had to make adjustments. It's the law of becoming a mother I suppose. I just don't have the same amount of time I used to have.
I tend to be perfectionistic yet indecisive by nature so I'm learning a huge lesson. I'm not saying I'm going to start doing things halfway, but I have realized that sometimes it is better to do what I can rather than not do anything at all. So I didn't have time to run 4 miles, but I was able to do the 2.7 mile loop with Win in his jogger stroller. I couldn't declutter the entire house in one day, but I did manage to clean out one of Win's drawers. I didn't make that labor intensive dish from Sunset magazine, but I did get spaghetti on the table. Case in point: Something is better than nothing.
Along those same lines, I found this quote on Pinterest that helps keep things in perspective for me. It says, "You can do anything, but you can't do everything."
The list in my mind makes me want to do everything...at the same time. I want to sew a skirt, make a wreath, hang some pictures, bake banana bread, take a photography class, juice some pomegranates, read more books, finish a personal history project. You name it and I probably want to do it.
This is not a bad thing. Wanting to do and learn things is healthy. Being motivated keeps life interesting. I run into problems because I want to do many things at once so my projects are left unfinished. A few illustrations: I have a box of two year old pinecones sitting in my mom's shed waiting to be made into a wreath, fabric in my closet for skirt I wanted to make over a year ago, three wall hangings for Win's room that should have been hung before he was born and a slew of thank you cards that should have been written a year ago from my baby showers. The thank you cards are a big regret. I'm admittedly bad at sending them. Once again, I can trace this to my perfectionistic tendencies and lack of narrowing down projects. Something would have been better than nothing and if I would have focused on that one thing I could have completed an important task.
I know some characteristic traits are impossible to change, whether they be learned or inherent, but I can continuously learn and grow. I can't help but think of these scriptures:
Isaiah 28:10 "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little."
and
Mosiah 4:27 "And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order."
So for 2012, I will always try to do my best, but something is going to be better than nothing (for the little things) and I really can do anything, but I can't do everything...at one time.
A big thank you to this little guy for teaching me some important lessons in 2011.
