or Good Enough is Good Enough When Your Husband Has a Stiff Neck
Every year soon after Thanksgiving, we put up our outdoor Christmas lights. We have a standard display that we hang along our roof lines and around bushes in front of the house. This job was scheduled for last weekend. However, Ward woke up with a pain in his neck (literally, not figuratively) and things didn't go as planned. We weren't able to put any lights up except on a spruce tree in front of the house because Ward is the only one who does roof work in the family. I tried to convince him that lights only on the tree were still good and in this situation, good enough was good enough. And I almost, sort of, kind of believed it.
However, today I became a true believer. Recently, we had an elderly neighbor move in across the street
and I met her for the first time this afternoon. She remarked how much she was
enjoying our lights. She actually mentioned it several times during our conversation and thanked us for putting them up. So even though we may not get to the rest of our display, my new
neighbor reminded me that, "Good enough
is good enough."
Do you have to remind yourself sometimes during the holidays that good enough is good enough?
I'm glad your neighbor is able to enjoy your decorations, sounds like she might be lonely. I used to drive myself crazy having every thing perfect before Christmas day, I have relaxed and now do very simple displays and know it's enough for me. We finally hung the ornaments on my tree with the grand kids and just letting them participate has made it enough for them as well. Their tree will be more traditional and elaborate than mine, but that's what is special..everyone doing something different.
ReplyDeleteI think my neighbor is having a problem adjusting to a new house. Her sons moved her here because they are only a couple of houses away and she needs a lot of help. They do a lot for her, but I'm not sure they have the time to listen.
DeleteAbsolutely! I can't tell you how many plans get scraped, because we're human and can only get so much done, or truly want to get so much done. And I think "good enough" is often more enjoyable than perfect. For me, perfect means I've totally exhausted myself and can't enjoy it any longer.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record, our light display this year, so far, is just 1 long edge of the front roof line. I'd like to get the lights on some arches in the back yard, as we see that area more often. But we'll just have to see if anyone gets to it. I prefer to just enjoy our neighbor's light displays. We take a nice stroll through the neighborhood, and enjoy the fruits of their hard work.
And I hope your hubby's neck is better soon.
His neck is better than it was, but I don't think it's go onto the roof better. He doesn't get home until long after dark these days, so we'll see what happens next weekend. Our Christmas lights always come with another purpose. It's also when the gutters get cleaned because by this time, most of the leaves have come down.
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