When is it good enough?

I love pictures on the walls! Colt and I decorate differently - he likes "less is more" and "simplicity" I on the other hand like things on the walls and decorations. So we put together a picture to be hung on my side of our bedroom :) The fun thing of hanging a puzzle is not only do you have a beautiful piece of art, but you also have the memory of putting it together. Colt and I would sit and talk while we put it together, and River would ask "where does this one fit" or "which one fits next" and we would let her put in the next one we found to put together. Here is our work of art:
I love this picture! Pictures are something that I look at all the time. I need pictures on the walls that are beautiful and have a meaning to me. This is both. I love the colors and the imagery of Christ feeding the birds. The running words around the picture say "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." This is a 997 piece puzzle - yes, with all of River's help, 3 ended up missing (probably in the trash). Colt asked me if I was still going to glue it and hang it up. You Bet! There are a couple of things this reminds me of each time I look at it:

*I wouldn't have missed the opportunity of putting this together with River. I think many times kids are left out of projects or things to do because we think they are too small, things will come up missing, they will make a mess, or it's just faster to do it yourself. River does everything with me - from cooking to dishes and laundry. River loves to help! *Missing a piece or 3 does not detract from its beauty. This rose my dad sent to me, and is our best producing rose in our garden! Our roses are very beautiful - do we sometimes focus a little too much on the thorns in life instead of the roses? Do we tend to look at the negative instead of the positive? Do we tell ourselves that we can't do it and let ourselves be held back? Do we ever look at others and say "Wow, she's awesome! I'm just not that wonderful". Instead, let us be inspired by others and motivated by their accomplishments, and feel lucky that we know them and our life was enhanced by knowing them. Just because they are wonderful does not make you any less wonderful. Someones life is enhanced by knowing you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

This is one of my favorite clips (less than 2 min. long) by Elder Uchtdorf on creating. This movie inspired me to do this blog. While I may not do it as well as others may do it, I cannot be paralyzed by the fear of not doing it perfectly and thereby never doing it at all. I find that as women, we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others and their talents. The comparisons to others paralyze us and hold us back from truly loving ourselves and seeing the good that we do. Comparisons are dangerous for 2 reasons: either we did it better than someone or worse than someone. Superior and Inferior. I am going to make a conscious effort to not compare and to recognize both their talents and my own. Be happy for them and know that if they win it doesn't mean that I loose. We are talented in a thousand different ways - River is my cheerleader. She always tells me "Good job Mom" Or, "you did that SO good!" I am a talented sock matcher and alligator maker. * The picture reminds me to surround myself with things that make me smile and to stop and notice your surroundings. River is good at this "Oh mom! A Flower!"

*Don't throw away the experience because it's not perfect.

*Focus on what you get to, not on what you don't get to. We recently went up North for 5 days. We had a huge list of things we wanted to do. At the end Colt said he was sorry that we didn't get to all of it. We got to the most important ones, and it just didn't all fit in. In life we have a million things that we would like to do. We simply are not going to get to everything. We need to focus on the most important and just let other things go and not feel guilty over it. Absolute highest priority things: playing with my girls, creating memories, going to church. Things important, but that can take a back seat: cleaning, laundry, yard work.

*Sometimes I don't fully value and enjoy something until it is gone. On my mission, I was in an area with one active member for a year. I wanted to get on and be in a "better" area. Once I was transferred, there were certain things that I really missed and special parts to be valued and never had again. How many times do we want something different than what we have only to miss it terribly when it is gone and the thing you wanted so much is different than what you thought it would be?

*To be satisfied with your best, even though it may not be perfect. I used to want to get an 'A' in college so much! It wasn't until I realized to enjoy the journey and the whole experience, not just a letter grade at the end. They say you can only do 2 of the 4 things well: work, sleep, grades or social. You can't do all well all the time. What things are most important? I got a B- in my micro-biology class. You know, that was good enough for me when I had so many other things going on.

Enjoying the journey is good enough for me!