Tightly Wound

I do not consider myself a perfectionist. Philosophically I believe that perfectionism is what makes God God. Since humans are not God, by definition they are incapable of perfection.

What I do believe I am---is an overachiever—in too many things. And I expect others to also achieve beyond their measure in too many things. So my husband, who believes that 92% is still an “A”, is often annoyed that my expectation is a 98 %---an “A+.” He does not express this out loud (or at least very often) but I am certain that he thinks I am a crazy person—obsessed and uptight. The coils of his springs are just not as numerous and compact as mine.

This past weekend my husband and I needed to disassemble, dismantle and move all of the stuff out of my daughter’s bedroom to allow the contractor space to demolish her bathroom. And part of our task was to roll up and remove her 9 x 12 area rug. My husband got on one end of the rug and I got on the other and we began the rolling procedure. But all 3 attempts failed. By the time we got halfway through the rolling procedure it was grossly uneven. We rolled at different intensities. He thought I rolled too tightly and I thought he did not roll tightly enough. I wanted the smallest possible end product and he just wanted to get the rug out of the room in a compact enough form.

Both of us were right and neither of us was wrong. So we both had to take a deep breath and give in a little.

So on the fourth attempt we proceeded more slowly. I was less fanatical and he was more deliberate. We finally succeeded.

And I suppose if you average the two of us out—our mean is a 95. Not as good as I would like, but still an A+. And an A+ is an excellent grade for sure---especially for people (and rugs) wound a little bit too tightly.