I wrote earlier about embarking on a jigsaw puzzle, and how over time, all the pieces eventually show up.   Well, sometimes they don’t.   As I worked on it, I discovered one piece was missing.  I suspect I am the culprit because I moved the puzzle a couple of times (rolled up in felt).  The piece likely went astray and ended up who knows where.

The thing is, I did not fret about the missing piece.  I did not spend time looking for it, worrying about it, speculating about it, contacting the manufacturer or even beating myself up about it.   I finished the puzzle, took this picture and then proceeded to break up all the pieces and put it back in the box.  This is quite new for me. In the past I would have left the puzzle out until it was ‘perfect’.   I would have spent a lot of time looking for the piece and chastising myself for being careless.

Not this time, my good enough was good enough even though it (I) was not perfect.  Perfection is an enigma anyway.   Even with the missing piece, the essence of the picture is still visible.  The perfectionist in you might want to have the piece filled in, but really, it’s fine without it.

Since we live in a world that is unpredictable, non-linear and changeable, experiment with having it be good enough and enjoy the time off that you might have invested in getting it perfect.