“It’s Good Enough” Changed My Life

Every month we pull an oracle card as the theme for the month. This month the card is the Courage card. Most people think of courage as roaring out loud, with power and passion, and then surging forward. And it certainly can be, but courage can also be silent. Courage can be not responding when someone insults you. It can be standing your ground, with grace and humility, without being defensive. It can be gently telling yourself that you did the best that you could in a given situation, without beating yourself up. It can also be doing something that scares you, even if it’s not scary to someone else.

Being courageous is an individual journey . . . what is courageous to one person might be completely different for someone else. My journey into courage takes me to my perfectionism. I guess that you could call me a “recovering perfectionist,” (who often isn’t always recovered). There’s a place in me that likes everything to be “perfect.” As strange as it may sound, in the past it would scare me to not do something perfectly.

It’s an act of courage, for me, to be working on a project and say, “I’m done. It’s good enough.” even though it’s not perfect. I guess you could call me a “good enough-ist” instead of a perfectionist.

Here’s a story from my past that illustrates this. When I was asked to write my first book, I froze. I was scared. I knew I couldn’t make it perfect, so I was terrified about even starting. I wasn’t a writer. I didn’t know enough about the subject. Yada yada. I was on a precipice of calling the publisher and canceling the contract. However, before I did that, I went to see a therapist. She had a degree from Harvard; I was sure she was going to validate my view and tell me to stand down. 

But instead of saying, “Denise, you’re not a writer and you don’t know enough about this subject to write about it; you should cancel the contract.” She said, “It doesn’t have to be good. It does have to be done. Even if you write it badly, just get it done.” 

What?! This was shocking to me. But, after I thought about it, it was also liberating. To be willing to write my book badly (and not perfectly) was really hard and it took courage just get it done. But I did it… and 35 years later, my book is still in print. My subsequent mantra of “It’s good enough” changed my life. 

My suggestion to you… “Done can be better than perfect.” If there is something that you are afraid of, go forward anyway… go out on a limb… that’s where the fruit is ripest. So, if there is something in life you are afraid of… ask yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen if I face this fear and go forward?” Then, if you are willing to face that fear…go forward with courage and grace.

Sending Blessings Your Way,

Denise