I’ve had a very expensive weekend and yet it has made me feel happy and relieved. Two big purchases decided on that have been annoying me for ages.
Firstly I took advantage of Black Friday to purchase my snazzy new laptop that I am writing this blog post on. My old laptop is well past its best and takes approximately a year to do anything, crashes frequently, including in the middle of client calls etc. I’ve been putting up with it for far too long. However, it was indeed a ‘Black’ Friday as I got stuck going round in circles about which one to buy and got really fed up. In the end I waited until my geeky son came home and let him make the choice – not that he has any greater knowledge but he got to feel useful! And here I am, VERY happy with it, and glad I took the plunge. And saved £100 as well thanks to the Blackness of the Friday.
Even more exciting I have finally decided what car I’m going to buy. I’ve been wanting a new car for over a year as my old one is increasingly bothering me. It really pongs of fumes from the exhaust, even though it passed the MOT, and I hate the idea of extra unnecessary pollution. It also has started to have a few niggles and I want to get out quick before a major repair is needed or I break down on a dark country lane. I got stuck with the bonnet up the other week, and even a very helpful policeman couldn’t get it down! But it is even harder to choose a new car than it is a new laptop and I have been stuck for ages on that decision. My ‘perfect’ car doesn’t actually exist because when I wrote down all the aspects that I wanted there isn’t such a model. And so I was procrastinating and putting up with my old car. Until this weekend. I got the Husband and kids on board, came up with a short list, and off we went to 3 different dealerships. Or that was the plan but we all agreed what car to buy after the second one. Now just a bit of price-negotiation to do and await delivery. Hurrah.
In both cases the decision has taken far too long as I was looking for the ‘perfect’ option. Usually I am far from a perfectionist and generally live by the motto that ‘Good Enough is Bloody Great’. However in this case my reluctance to spend money, them costing a lot, and my love of a bargain, got in the way and put pressure on both purchases to really get it right. And I wished I’d made the decision ages ago as then I’d be driving my snazzy new car, as well as typing on my new laptop.
It’s no wonder I am yet to meet a happy Perfectionist. That drive for the perfect option, decision, approach etc can only ever lead to frustrations. If you have Perfect Pamela tendencies I encourage you to take the plunge, aim to be Good Enough Edith and get rid of that annoying grey cloud that is hanging over your head. As a general rule ANY decision is better than no decision. And, as someone who cleared 2 decision-clouds this weekend, I can assure you that life is far more enjoyable when the clouds have cleared. Please like / share. Sue X