Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be an all-or-nothing person. Hot or cold. In or out. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” and all that jazz.

This can be a great thing, but it can also be a serious hindrance. In my life, “do it right, or don’t do it at all” has usually resulted in the latter. Traditionally, I have been the classic perfectionistic underachiever, the person who is unwilling to go through awkward learning phases, who refuses to turn in papers I haven’t rewritten seven times, who freaks out and pulls the plug at the last moment if I feel under-prepared for whatever lies ahead. As a result, I avoid challenging myself, my time is eaten up in unproductive ways, and I miss out on a lot of great opportunities.

In America, we glorify the hard-driving perfectionist, the person who gives 110% to everything they do, be it sports, business, ministry, or child-rearing. If we don’t have the time, energy, or emotional resources to make the absolute best showing we can, we simply blow it off or bow out. We wouldn’t want anyone to think less of us–to assume that we really were doing the best we could when we hit the wrong chord, flubbed part of our presentation, or showed up with Super One bars instead of homemade–so we don’t volunteer. Our obsession with putting our best foot forward tends to keep them frozen to the floor.

But I am learning the value of making a good effort. Not a perfect effort. Not a stellar effort. Not even the best I could do if I didn’t have children to take care of, a mortgage that needs to be paid, and a life that needs to be lived. Maybe I can’t give 110%, but 72% is still pretty darn good, and way better than nothing.

In fact, a consistent 72% goes WAY further than an unattainable 110%, or even an unsustainable 100%. If we hold back until we can do something perfectly, just the way we envisioned it, we’re going to be waiting a long time.

In that spirit, I am going to publish this post. Right now. Without obsessing over my wording. Without worrying about whether I should add a little here, or remove a little there. Because otherwise, there wouldn’t be a blog post today. And a 72% blog post is better than a 0% blog post, right?

What about you? Are there areas in your life where God is calling you forward, but you are holding back? Can you let go of perfectionism, of the fear of failure or of looking bad, and just move forward with the time, energy, and resources you do have?