Good Enough is Good Enough

by Jia Yi Lim

            Your heart sinks to the pit of your stomach upon seeing that number in red ink. Now, you are utterly convinced that you are nothing more than a failure. Virtually all students have experienced the crushing feeling of receiving a less-than-satisfactory score. While noble, the desire for excellence can end up dragging us down when left unchecked. To develop a healthier attitude towards failure, we should learn to see life from a broader perspective and accept that good enough is good enough. 

            A little over a month has passed since the school year began, and many students have already felt the pressure of school life set in. With so many tasks to juggle and so little time, our lives seem to be spiralling out of control again. As a senior, I wish to share a philosophy that helped bring me out of an unhealthy perfectionistic mindset that gripped me for my first two years of high school.

            The philosophy is “good enough is good enough.” It applies not only to school but to many areas in life. When we cannot let go of the desire for perfection, we rob ourselves of happiness and make life intolerable. Learning to accept that good enough is good enough can save us from dangerous perfectionistic tendencies. 

Mrs. Burleson, the high school chemistry teacher, notices that students often become “overly stressed when they are not making As in all classes on every assignment.” “[Students] need to learn to give themselves the permission to not be perfect but to be happy with doing their best,” she said. 

            The philosophy of “good enough” is not an excuse to settle for second best. Of course, we should strive to do our best in all that we do, but that doesn’t mean we should beat ourselves up when we fail to do what others can easily see is quite extraordinary. If we don’t allow ourselves to make mistakes, we will forever be miserable. As Mrs. Burleson said, we need to learn to see that doing our best is a commendable act in itself. 

            Besides being happy with “good,” having a broader perspective on life can help us better manage our emotions when we fail. Although we find thinking about the end of the road uncomfortable, seeing our lives from the perspective of death can help us more realistically appraise situations. It can help us see that our mistakes are often not as serious as we imagine them to be. Sometimes, when we become engrossed in school, we forget about other important things in life, like pursuing passions that give us long-lasting happiness or spending quality time with our loved ones.

At some point, we need to learn to let go because we will regret depriving ourselves of happiness in the future. As the waves continue to rise and rock us, we need to learn to be happy with “good enough” and take a few steps back when evaluating our failures.