All

Over the years, I have been able to temper my perfectionism. Once I saw it for what it was, which for me was false pride and a feeling of not being good enough in and of myself. On purpose, I began to stop and say, "Okay. This will do." I eased off the pressure, and found to my surprise, that I did things even better when I relaxed. I wrote about the difference between perfectionism and excellence here.

That all being said, I do throw myself wholeheartedly into everything I do. I have a lot of enthusiasm. Yesterday at work, I was depending on someone who seems to do just enough to get by. There were a couple of places that she could have picked up the pace just a little, you know rise to the occasion and all that, but she didn't. I had to check my judgmental attitude toward her, because that isn't helpful.

She's just not an all or nothing kind of gal. Now sometimes I have wished that I could be a little more lukewarm about things, but it's not who I am. And really, being excited and enthusiastic and throwing my whole being into something makes me really happy.

Susan

"All or Nothing" written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers