Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Perfectionism



One of my coworkers has this client. She is the ultimate perfectionist.

He'll send her a document, only to have it come back to him literally bleeding with changes and comments. After making all the changes, he'll send it back to her only to have it return again mortally wounded with a fresh onslaught of changes and more pointed comments.

She doesn't realize the latest draft (with all the changes) looks just like the original. She gets frustrated with my coworker, not realizing she is talking herself in circles.

When I see this, I have to laugh and shake my head. It makes me want to grab some popcorn and watch the show.

Perfectionists can be so entertaining, can't they?

Then I take a step back and realize that I load the dish washer the exact same way every time. I have a specific way to dry off after a shower. I even clip my fingernails in the same order ... every time.

Dang it.

Somewhere, someone is laughing at me and reaching for the popcorn.

This reminds me that I need to loosen up. It's okay if a cup sometimes goes on the bottom shelf of the dish washer. It won't kill me if I dry off my left arm before my right. And the sun will still rise tomorrow if I start clipping my thumbnails first.

My wife is good at this. She is organized but doesn't let it get to her if things aren't perfect. She just laughs at me when I get wound too tight.

... Maybe she's the one reaching for the popcorn.

3 comments:

Holly said...

I never notice my perfectionism until I /sigh/ get a new roommate. Like I have right now. It's everything. She loads the dishwasher wrong EVERY time and never locks the door. Grr.

trublubyu said...

when i read this i thought it was a re-post because it sounded familiar. and then i realized why...

it takes me a minute sometimes.

i think we all have ways we think things should be. i do. lots of things.

Almond said...

Absolutely nothing wrong with perfection: there is a place for everything and everything in its place.