Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Lower standards

I know in a world where we are constantly trying to do things better you might be shocked to know that I've discovered the secret to happiness is sometimes lower standards. Realizing that it is okay to not vacuum the living room because we allowed Nicholas to create a Ninja room by stringing out an entire skein of macrame cord is not the end of the world. I can live with a messy house (but not a dirty house.) It is simply not possible to do everything on my to-do list every day, so instead of feeling chronically guilty I just quit making such a long list.

It was also a revelation to figure out that perfectionism had the ability to paralyze instead of spurn forward. Example thought pattern: "I need to change that light bulb, but while I have the step stool out I should clean the fixture and if I'm going to clean the fixture I should go ahead and dust up there, too. If I get the duster out I might as well dust the rest of the room, but if I dust then I will need to vacuum because dust will be all over the carpet. If I am going to vacuum I need to move all the furniture around and I better sprinkle some deodorizer on the dogs sleeping spot so it will not smell so much like dog"... You get the point.

I'm telling you, for some of us less is definitely more!

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