RESTRAINT BECOMES UNBRIDLED JOY

Imagine that your every action must be perfect.
It’s paralyzing!
 
I observed a third-grade teacher leading her class in discussing “Sam,” the main character of a book they were reading. The teacher asked, “What does Sam’s bedroom look like?
 
Not a single had went up.
 
Why not?
 
Because the students believed they had to give the right answer. But the book had not included a description of Sam’s bedroom. No one knew the right answer.
 
And no one would risk giving the wrong answer.
 
Perceiving this, the teacher rephrased her question. “Based on what you know about Sam, what do you think his bedroom looked like?” Hands flew up!
 
In this month’s featured book, Beatrice Bottomwell is the epitome of perfection. She makes sure her clothes match, her hamster is fed, her homework is done, and so on. Her routines run like clockwork.
 
Beatrice literally has never made a mistake. She knows it. The whole town knows it.
Every morning, as Beatrice heads to school, fans and photographers surround her.
 
Most of the people don’t even know Beatrice’s name. They know her only as THE GIRL WHO NEVER MADE MISTAKES.

​Beatrice’s infallibility contrasts with her younger brother’s “anything goes” approach to life. Carl makes lots of mistakes. He enjoys experimenting. Carl nibbles on his crayons. He plays the piano with his feet.  

Beatrice is an excellent juggler. She’s always won the annual talent show. Everyone, including Beatrice, expects her to deliver another flawless performance this year.

But the morning of the show, while Beatrice is busy with her cooking team, she almost makes a “mistake.” She nearly drops the eggs.

Let’s take a moment to notice Beatrice’s mindset. Beatrice views herself as entirely responsible for ensuring perfection. Accordingly, any deviation from perfection must be her fault. What actually happened is this: Beatrice slipped on rhubarb a classmate had dropped on the floor. We would call this an accident, not a mistake. If the eggs had broken as a result, we would call that an accident, too.

But in Beatrice’s mind, if the eggs had broken, it would have been a MISTAKE. It would have been HER mistake. It would have spoiled her perfect record.

That afternoon, Beatrice walks through the park. Some of her friends are ice-skating on the frozen pond. They invite her to join them as they wobble, slip, fall, giggle, and try again.

Beatrice decides it’s too risky.

And she can’t shake the feeling that she’ll mess up at the talent show, in front of the whole town.

That night, when she steps onto the stage, the audience calls out, 
​

“The Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes!”
​“We know she’ll be perfect!”

I don’t want to spoil the next part for you. It’s best for you to see for yourself. Beatrice’s act is a juggling act. It’s an outrageous juggling act. And it goes outrageously wrong.

It's a catastrophe!
Beatrice freezes. The audience freezes.
But suddenly, Beatrice’s perception flips: It’s HILARIOUS!

Like a pin poked into a balloon, Beatrice’s change-of-mindset breaks the tension.
​

​“Beatrice and the audience laughed
​until they couldn’t remember why they were laughing.”

From that point on, freed of the restraints of perfectionism, Beatrice enjoys experimenting. Which leads to excellent adventures with Carl. And lots of fun learning how to ice-skate, wobbles, falls, and all.

“Now, people no longer call her the
Girl Who Never Makes Mistakes.
​
​They just call her Beatrice.”
​

To sum up...

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
You’ve probably also heard, “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
 
These are popular sayings.
 
I think the story of THE GIRL WHO NEVER MADE MISTAKES says it better.