Thursday, January 28, 2010

Success and perfection

I came across this quote in the February 2010 issue of the magazine Guideposts.

"Every time you practice or attempt something, you are succeeding at getting better--not failing at being perfect."
-Cary E. Krix

Wow.

What a great thing for us perfectionists to remember!

Are you a blogger? Even a "dud" post keeps you in the habit of writing, and helps you gradually hone your skills.

Are you a runner? An unmotivated day that results in a crummy run still helps you stay in shape, and may help you improve your performance over time.

Are you a mom? Trying to be patient won't result in perfect parenting, but it will grow you as a person, and as you learn to be more patient, your kids will learn from your experience.

And does your daughter want a kitty cat cake for her birthday? If you try to make it yourself, it won't look professional, but you'll learn something that might help when the next big day rolls around!

Of course in all four of those examples, by "you" I mean"I"!

I think I'll keep trying things--new things and old--so that I can "succeed at getting better." That's a lot more realistic than trying to stop "failing at being perfect."

7 comments:

silver star said...

Great quote! I'll try to remember that.

It's kinda funny you mention a kitty cat cake, my husband was at a grocery store last night, he saw a white kitty cat cake, he wanted to buy it, then eat it right in front of our white cat. While having some cake to eat would be nice, something about that does seem wrong.

Unknown said...

I like that quote and I might have to print it out and post it at my desk as a reminder. And for the record I thought your cat cake was pretty awesome!

Autumn said...

I'm a professional cake decorator. I've been PAID to make cakes look good, but the funny thing is when I'm at home, and a birthday rolls around, my homemade cakes look like crap. I don't know if it's because I make my own cake not from a box or froze cake {which is how professionals do it} or what but they look like something the kids made when I'm done. Lol.

I love this post. Especially the bit about running, perfect timing Beth, God bless ya!!!

Tia said...

This is a great post. I got up, got dressed, put my shoes on, and looked outside. 6 inches of snow. Took my clothes off and crawled right back in bed. It was perfectly what I needed today! However, crunches and squats and light weights are in my future!

Arlee Bird said...

This expresses my personel philosophy pretty well. I would like to do things perfectly, but I always could do better. No point in putting oneself down for giving an honest attempt. It's better to at least try to do something, rather than just dream about doing something and regretting that you never gave it a chance.
Lee

Call Me Cate said...

Thanks, I needed this reminder today. Well, pretty much every day. We just have to keep trying and hope each time gets a bit better.

I think I'm going to blog about a quote tomorrow. Or about robots. Not sure yet.

Unknown said...

Awesome encouragement!! I think I need to stick this one on my refrigerator!