T H E M O N T H LY
#ISSUE 14
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A NOTE FROM BETSY: PROGRESS OVER PERFECTION
OCTOBER 2019
And boy, isn’t that the truth? What if we were able to apply that truth to ourselves when we’re trapped in the not-good-enough comparison game? What if we celebrated our progress instead of worrying about perfection or measuring up?
Have you ever been caught in the trap of not feeling good enough? You might recognize signs: comparison, frustration, self-doubt and insecurity. When we get caught up in comparing our journey to someone else’s, we find ourselves competing with emotions that were never ours to own. These things will ROB you of your joy for photography, and they are often the result of unrealistic expectations. Any perfectionists in the room? The improperly folded towel in this picture taught me a valuable lesson about this last week. My seven year old is (finally) learning to hang up her own towel. It occurred to me not too long ago that I have adopted the habit of doing this for her, and it was time for a change. Despite her belief that she’s going to live with me forever (swoon!), she WILL actually live on her own someday, and I’m kind of hoping she’s not a slob. So, we are working on teaching her to be a little more responsible for herself, including the hanging up of her bath towel. My daughter is a perfectionist. Like her mama. She worked really hard hanging up this towel, and insisted on doing it herself. It involved a lot of time, folding, and refolding.
I definitely plan on teaching my daughter the proper way to hang her towel (because let’s face it, what she did here is way more complicated than it needs to be), but for today, I’m going to give her little perfectionist self (and mama) a break, and we’re going to celebrate her progress.
I’ll be honest: this towel is driving me crazy hanging there like that. I really want to fix it. (Like, SO badly).
And I think YOU should celebrate YOUR progress today, too. I have a feeling you’ve come a LONG way. And progress is more valuable than perfection.
But as I stood there looking at her first attempt at hanging her towel completely on her own, the thought occurred to me: Progress is more valuable than perfection.
Betsy