Why "Good Enough" is Actually Revolutionary

Real life, not Instagram life: me with eyes shut, nose scrunched, mouth doing something odd, while Lola decided licking me was far better than posing nicely. Perfectly imperfect in every way.

Written from my kitchen table. With questionable posture, yesterday's mascara, and a dog who's currently eating something suspicious from the garden.

This morning, I was trying to take what I thought would be a “lovely” photo of me and Lola.

Instead, the reality was me with a squinty face, scrunched up nose, odd mouth shape, eyes closed, wrinkles out, freckles everywhere! Lola, meanwhile, had clearly decided that photo posing was overrated and went straight for trying to lick my face instead.

My finger hovered over the delete button.

Because here I was, about to reject a perfectly genuine moment (laughter, chaos, silliness) just because it wasn’t perfectly “lovely” enough.

The Perfectionism Trap

When did we decide that everything had to be just right before it could exist?

I see it everywhere. In the teacher who won't try a new approach until she's read seventeen more books about it. In the parent who won't join the WhatsApp group because they don’t know the “right” things to say. In my own reflection, critiquing every angle before I dare to exist in public.

Lola has never had a perfect day in her life.

She's highly enthusiastic but extremely clumsy. She's loving but occasionally destructive (who needs socks anyway?!). She means well but sometimes misreads social cues spectacularly (the postman incident of last Tuesday springs to mind).

But she shows up anyway. Every day. Tail wagging, ready to love the world exactly as much as it deserves, which is completely. She doesn’t wait until she’s the perfect therapy dog. She doesn’t postpone helping children until she’s read the manual on emotional regulation.

She just is and just does.

And in her imperfect being, she creates perfect moments for others. The children giggle at her mishaps. They smile at her fails. They recognise their own calamities with fondness and learn that it is ok.

The Revolution of Good Enough

What if I told you that "good enough" is not settling?
What if it's actually the most radical thing you can do in a world obsessed with optimisation?
What if showing up messy, imperfect, and real is exactly what the world needs from you right now?

Perfection has a sneaky way of keeping us stuck.

Progress, even messy progress, will always outshine an idea that never leaves your head.

That conversation you’re putting off until you find the perfect words? Have it imperfectly.
That creative project you’re researching to death? Start it badly.
That boundary you need to set but don’t know how to phrase elegantly? Set it awkwardly.

Children understand this instinctively.

They don’t wait until they can walk perfectly before taking their first steps.

They don’t postpone speaking until their grammar is flawless.

They try. They fall. They get up. They try again.

Somewhere along the way, we learned to be afraid of the falling. We forgot that the mess is where the learning happens. We started believing that we had to earn our place in the world through flawlessness.

But you already belong here.

Exactly as you are.

With your questionable hair choices, your imperfect timing, and your beautiful, gloriously messy humanity.

Today, I dare you to do something ‘badly’.

Wear the jumper you love but think your teenagers might roll their eyes at. Post the photo that reminds you of that happy moment, even if it has weird lighting. Have the conversation without rehearsing it seventeen times in your head first.

Show up as you are, not as you think you should be.

Because the world doesn’t need another perfect person.

It needs you, messy, real, courageously imperfect you.

And maybe the most healing thing we can show children is that they don’t have to be perfect to be loved.

Because good enough really is enough!

All Is Well Approach offers Trauma Informed, Animal Assisted support for schools and organisations across the North West. Sometimes the most radical act of care (for children and for ourselves) is to show up real.

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