I’ve never been a perfectionist. Not even close. When I hang a picture in my house, I don’t do a lot of measuring or spacing to make sure it looks just right. I google the easiest way to do it and get it done. It might be a little crooked if you look closely, but I really don’t care. There are a lot of bad things about this, but lately, I’ve been thinking about how good for me it really is.
This last month, some of my family members did a challenge where we either walked or ran 50 kilometers outside. In past years, I wouldn’t be caught dead exercising outside during an East Idaho winter. But I come from a very competitive family, so I wanted to see what I could do. Initially, I made a goal to get up every morning before my husband left for work and go on my walk. This didn’t last a week. I realized that I needed to be more flexible and that telling myself I HAD to do this every morning really sucked the joy out of something that could potentially be a positive thing for me. So, I walked when I could. And I absolutely loved it! I never thought I would enjoy going on walks during the winter here, but it was wonderful! I didn’t expect perfection from myself, and it brought me greater joy.
Another example of this is my crafting. Especially sewing. I’m a very amateur crafter. The things I make don’t look terrible, but they are so far from perfect. At first, this discouraged me from doing anything. But I kept seeing different projects I wanted to try, and I decided to just go for it! I’ve sewn pillows, made some different signs for around my house, and I even made almost all the gifts I gave for Christmas this year. It’s become such a fun hobby and outlet for me, even though many of my projects would probably be categorized as Pinterest fails.
There are so many ways I would like to improve myself. As I thought about setting goals for 2021, I decided not to! Instead, I am slowly focusing on the ways I can improve and consciously making small steps towards improvement. The thing I want the most out of this year is to find joy in my everyday life. For me, setting goals and checking things off a list just doesn’t bring me happiness. So, this year I will be reading more, going on more walks (come snow or sunshine), finding music I love, and doing small things that bring me joy.
