{"id":2061,"date":"2019-12-09T05:30:34","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T12:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/?p=2061"},"modified":"2022-04-18T15:00:43","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T21:00:43","slug":"it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

I experienced a wonderful family gathering this past Thanksgiving. So many happy experiences including reuniting with extended family, delicious food, impromptu music, silliness, laughter, games, speed puzzling, off-roading, watching the snow fall in St. George Utah, photo shoot from filmmaker cousin.<\/p>\n

Everything went so well!<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I got home, after the reunion had ended, that I started to question myself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you know what tripped me up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tablecloths. Of all things!<\/p>\n

I wanted to share my joy and post some pictures to social media to represent the good times. But suddenly the pictures of the folding tables with no tablecloths and no decorations glared out at me!<\/p>\n

I started having thoughts of \u201cWhat would others think?\u201d<\/strong> \u201cWould anyone think less of me for serving Thanksgiving dinner without the seasonal decor?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds silly right?<\/p>\n

Yet, how many times do we undermine all the good we\u2019ve done by focusing on something that was not perfect?<\/h3>\n

The lack of tablecloths didn\u2019t bother me during the actual event. I was busy preparing the food and enjoying the company. But for some reason it bothered me when looking back.<\/p>\n

Once I caught the direction of my thoughts, it didn\u2019t take long to remind myself why I didn\u2019t worry about the tablecloths in the first place.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve discovered that I need to simplify or I get overwhelmed and stressed.<\/p>\n

The more relaxed and comfortable I feel, the more relaxed and comfortable others are around me.<\/strong> To me, the comfortable feeling is more important than decor!<\/p>\n

Remembering that reasoning allowed me to return to the feelings of gratitude and joy of the event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I can appreciate the ability of others to provide a meal and have a beautiful presentation.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s ok if that\u2019s not my strength.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s ok if picture perfect doesn\u2019t happen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The happiness, the love and shared experiences were wonderful! Maybe it really was perfect after all!<\/p>\n

Might we all benefit from not focusing on the one small thing that\u2019s not perfect, and focus instead on the many things that are going right?<\/h3>\n

Much love,
\n\"Melanie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I experienced a wonderful family gathering this past Thanksgiving. So many happy experiences including reuniting with extended family, delicious food, impromptu music, silliness, laughter, games, speed puzzling, off-roading, watching the snow fall in St. George Utah, photo shoot from filmmaker…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-emotional","8":"category-mental","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nIt Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I experienced a wonderful family gathering this past Thanksgiving. So many happy experiences including reuniting with extended family, delicious food, impromptu music, silliness, laughter, games, speed puzzling, off-roading, watching the snow fall in St. George Utah, photo shoot from filmmaker...Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Melanie B Newman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996\"},\"headline\":\"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":361,\"commentCount\":3,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Emotional\",\"Mental\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/\",\"name\":\"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/12\\\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Melanie B Newman\",\"description\":\"Certified SimplyALIGN Practitioner\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996\",\"name\":\"Melanie\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.melaniebnewman.com\\\/staging\\\/9944\\\/author\\\/melanie\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman","og_description":"I experienced a wonderful family gathering this past Thanksgiving. So many happy experiences including reuniting with extended family, delicious food, impromptu music, silliness, laughter, games, speed puzzling, off-roading, watching the snow fall in St. George Utah, photo shoot from filmmaker...Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/","og_site_name":"Melanie B Newman","article_published_time":"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melanie","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/"},"author":{"name":"Melanie","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996"},"headline":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect","datePublished":"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/"},"wordCount":361,"commentCount":3,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","articleSection":["Emotional","Mental"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/","url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/","name":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect - Melanie B Newman","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-09T12:30:34+00:00","dateModified":"2022-04-18T21:00:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","width":600,"height":400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/it-doesnt-have-to-be-perfect\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It Doesn\u2019t Have to Be Perfect"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/","name":"Melanie B Newman","description":"Certified SimplyALIGN Practitioner","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/#\/schema\/person\/529f281d80d83a3c3a536f2bd57c0996","name":"Melanie","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6b0756684c755ac9ae5544c7ae1c3d0739f1d937dfac27bd0db921a06e45e6b7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie"},"url":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/author\/melanie\/"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/It-Doesnt-Have-to-Be-Perfect.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Melanie","author_link":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/author\/melanie\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3632,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2061\/revisions\/3632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.melaniebnewman.com\/staging\/9944\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}