“Good Enough” Health??

By Jacquie Beech, Reach Therapist Intern

     If the bar is set to perfection, who will reach it?? Who will even attempt it?? But, what if the bar was set to “good enough??”  Would more people reach for it?? I believe so.
     This concept of “good enough” has been applied in a number of ways by many researchers, psychologists, therapist, counselors, etc. – good enough parenting, good enough marriage, and good enough sex, for example.  May not sound very appealing, but might actually be a roundabout way of making things better.  The idea is that if we have the mindset that things have to be perfect, then upon realizing “perfect” won’t happen, many people give up.  However, if we set the bar to something humanly possible, more people might just give it a shot.
     Life in today’s world is often full of never ending to do lists, splitting one’s time and spreading oneself so thin that nothing ends up getting done well.  In that case, the answer may sometimes be to give up trying altogether.  Why bother??  However, what if we adjust our mindset?? For example, if we say that my house may not be “perfect” but by throwing in a load of laundry before I leave for work, it will be “better.”  I may not be able to spend all the time I want with my kids (in my ideal image of the “perfect” family) – but I can sneak out and grab breakfast with my kid since my boss said we can come in late today.   Doesn’t mean I am a “perfect” parent, but it does mean I had some unstructured, free time with my kid.  I don’t eat the “perfect” diet, but I can cut back on how much sugar I put in my coffee each day – that does mean my health is better.  At the end of the day, my laundry is further ahead than it was, I ended up spending an unplanned morning with my kid, and my sugar intake was better – in all of those areas:  not “perfect,” but “good enough.”
     These are a handful of ways that we can come to more realistic applications of what we can do and maybe leave some time open to enjoy the life we are living.  Here are some more ways to achieve “good enough” status:

• Try meditating.  Research studies show over and over that meditation is good for our mood, immune system, coping with stress, and improves the quality of our relationships.  We may not become a Zen Buddhist, but by meditating 3-5 minutes per day, we get started on improving all those areas.  (And, who knows, over time, maybe we get up to 20 or 30 minutes of meditation!)
• Walk more.  Feeling like we aren’t able to do the 5 am workout at the gym may lead us to believe we are failures in our physical well-being, therefore, why try?? What if we start by parking where we’d have to walk more or take the stairs or walk during lunch – not “perfect” shape, but better.
• Eat healthier.  We may feel inundated by various diets and foods to eat or foods to avoid, etc.  We probably all have a basic idea of what it would mean in our own lives to eat healthier – one slice of pizza instead of 2 or 3; cut out one soda per day, add a smoothie for breakfast.  None of these in and of themselves will change our overall weight or health in a week, but doing one of these will make us healthier than we were before and if it’s a manageable change (versus a drastic one like “I won’t eat any more sugar EVER”) it’s more likely to continue
• Ease off electronics where possible.  It may not be reasonable (or possible) to live without a computer or a smart phone, but we can do it for an hour a day or at the dinner table.  

     The point is, the idea of “good enough” gives us enough mental space where we don’t feel like we have to be perfect, which can sometimes lead to giving up entirely.  The idea of “good enough” might be just enough motivation to help us do that one extra chore or spend a few minutes doing one thing that’s a little healthier and we end up doing far more than we thought possible.
     “Good enough” is another way of introducing balance into our lives.  One of the services we offer at Reach is to help people discover their own balance – what’s healthy for YOU, what change is possible for YOU.  Come visit us at Reach to have a partner as you make “good enough” even better.  What are more areas where you can make your life “good enough?”