12 Apr Why Perfection can be Bad!

Today’s video is inspired by my reaction to the typo we made in an email that went out to the Jacquie Straight Up family 2 weeks ago. I wasted time and energy being mortified by that little mistake, by worrying how unprofessional it looked and how it could have even happened after so many checks. Then I had to give my head a shake because the truth is, things are seldom perfect and sweating the small stuff distracts us from what’s really important in life and from making progress on the goals that really matter. Do you know what I mean?

Do you ever get like that when the desire for perfection holds you back, blinds you from love and joy, or actually becomes a big fat excuse for not making progress?

When it comes to not sweating the small stuff, my late friend Rod was my teacher. He was a vibrant bon vivant who was the life and soul of any party but would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. After my first divorce, I moved back into a dingy little rental apartment in Vancouver with one futon and a television. It would have been depressing if it wasn’t for him. “We’ll make this place look fabulous”, he said. “Let’s paint it pumpkin” And so we did, one Saturday we cranked up the tunes, poured a few cocktails and got to work. The place looked great but naturally, me with my OCD tendencies started to focus on all the little splotches of pumpkin paint on the white ceiling and all the teeny tiny places where we had colored out of the lines.

My anxiety built and those little brush strokes of paint became huge mountains blocking me from seeing anything else. So of course, I said  “Now I’ve got to go and buy some white paint to fix this.” We argued back and forth and eventually Rod grabbed my arm, looked me square in the eyes and said with love and conviction “Jacquie Let it GO, it’s NOT a perfect world!” I can’t tell you how many times I have turned to that memory when I’ve needed it most. I lived in that little apartment with its pumpkin splotches on the ceiling for 3 years after Rod’s passing.

Those little imperfections and the lesson they carried kept him close to me for years to come. I would look up at them every evening and think about all the laughter, loyalty and joy he brought into my life – a true friend – not to mention the big lesson he taught me.

In the end, those little imperfections turned out to be perfect after all. Don’t sweat the small stuff. It will stop you from recognizing love, from making progress on your goals and dreams and from enjoying life. And it will stop you from seeing the utter perfection in an imperfect world.

Thank you so much for watching this video – If you’ve liked it, please click the like button and share it on social media – I’d really appreciate that. Now I’d love to hear from you so let me know in the comments below this video how you handle letting go of the small stuff that could hold you back.