I'm a recovering perfectionist. Perfectionism is (for me) definitely an illness (maybe a distant relative to OCD?) Anyway, this time of year does bring out all those old compulsions to do everything just right and make everyone's Christmas the perfect day. But that's the strange healing thing about fatigue - one wouldn't think that chronic fatigue could be healing, but in this case, it is. Because it forces me to accept my limitations and work within them and not care so much about things that aren't my responsibility (like making everyone's Christmas the perfect holiday - that's not my job).

This year it's been even easier to be imperfect. With half my time spent at my brother's, I simply don't have time to do anything perfectly - barely have time to do anything at all! So whatever's getting done, is getting done as quickly and painlessly as possible.

I like that image, Smile, of coasting on imperfection. I have to say that the more I let go of these perfectionist tendencies, the more serene I feel about life. "Coasting" is a good word for it. Maybe I'll try "serenely coasting" on my imperfections for the next few weeks and see how that gets me through!