The Courage to Be Imperfect

I was reading a book last night while babysitting my six-week-old nephew (I will post some pictures because he is so adorable....and I am very biased!).

The author had a profound point that I want to share. She has a few rules and one of them is to "Renounce Perfectionism." Essentially she says that perfectionism is an enemy. It says wait until you have time to do it properly...

Here's the quote that got me: "The choice is not between doing it imperfectly now and doing it perfectly later. That's an illusion. The real choice is between doing it imperfectly now or not at all."

Isn't that so true? Think of all the activities, projects, to-do things that we want to do perfectly, so we keep putting them off. Often times we never get them done because we are waiting for the perfect moment.

For example - scrapbooking! I have found that many moms have the tendency to believe that if they can't create the perfect scrapbook, with every single picture of the kids, and all the funny comments they say, then we won't do anything at all. I tell many moms: it doesn't have to be perfect. Put the photos in a photo album and journal next to the photos. Your family will appreciate that dearly in the years to come! And when it comes to photo-taking, don't worry about capturing the perfect family photo. If you and your spouse are acting goofy, or if the kids are making faces, capture the moment and share it with the world. We all enjoy knowing that others aren't perfect too!

Our perfection will only end up hurting relationships, our families, our homes. The author mentions in this book that it takes courage to be imperfect. Courage to have the humility to do things imperfectly. So please remember as a wife, mom, daughter, friend, sibling....buying the perfect gift, having our home perfectly decorated, sending the perfect card or letter, making the perfect meals or Christmas cookies, should not be our goal.

Bless your families with imperfection this Christmas. Strive to be humble enough to make imperfection (getting it DONE) the goal.

P.S. I will share the name of this book after Christmas. I need to purchase it for a few gifts this week. If you want to know the name, go to About Us, Stacy and e-mail me!