Good Enough

“Perfect is the enemy of good” goes the saying. If perfect and good are duking it out, I’ll have to side with good. Back in college and even grad school, I could afford to be a perfectionist. Life was simpler, and I had the time I needed to strive for perfection in the areas that interested me. These days, and this past week in particular, “good enough” has had to do.

Last weekend was one of my long weekends with the girls, and, with their mom out of town at a conference, it was a longer weekend than usual. I love spending time with them, but I’m swamped at work these days. Keeping up with the kids and the work has meant a lack of sleep, which hasn’t helped me get over this nagging sinus infection. And that sinus infection, in turn, makes everything else harder to do.

When I think back over the blur of the last nine days or so, it feels like I was a disaster both at home and work. But that’s the perfectionist in me talking. The rationalist in me knows that I was good enough–good enough on the job and good enough as a parent. Being good enough doesn’t sound like a noble goal, but it’s a realistic one. I’ve learned that perfection in life is impossible. Heck, my life is a long way from what I wanted it to be, say, five years ago. But it’s my life, and I can make it good enough, for me and for my kids.

Living a good-enough life is a little easier when there are moments of greatness. Two Friday nights ago, Hannah’s school held a Civil-War-themed “family fun night.” (Because when you think “Civil War,” you think “fun!”) The highlight of the night was the 1860s-style dance they held in the school gym. The students had been learning era-appropriate dances in gym class, and Hannah had a blast dancing with her friends, all decked out in skirts and dresses. I was thrilled to sit on the sidelines with Lily and watch Hannah have so much fun.

The look of joy on Hannah’s face during that dance has carried me through this very long week. Knowing that these little moments of greatness occur from time to time keeps me going. My life doesn’t need to be perfect, but it’s usually good enough and sometimes wonderful. I can live with that.

Image: “Head Couple,” me, Flickr (CC)