Let the Not Perfect be Perfect

I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. When I start a project, usually I am unable to begin another until I am done with the original. Sometimes that may mean a delay because I am busy perfecting. I don't like things unfinished or out of place. Strangely, in my own home, I can handle a mess or an item or two out of place. But for only so long, then it begins to irritate me and I go into a cleaning frenzy. Example: My Kitchen. If it's a little messy, I may leave it while doing another chore or just lazing around. But come bedtime, I cannot turn in for the night unless the kitchen has been cleaned: dishes washed, counter, stove, and refrigerator wiped down, and the floor swept. The thought of my kids waking to a messy kitchen really bothers me. The worst part of my home is the laundry room. Items seem to slowly grow and then boom. I can't handle it. Sort of like ants crawling across your legs at a picnic. Your hands start slapping at the little critters in order to rid your blanket of the growing infestation. That is how it is with me and cleaning. At work it is a bit of the same. I work for the post office at a carrier station. I sort letters mostly, flats and parcels are secondary; I fill in to help if my letters run out. Where my co-workers don't mind mixing letters and flats, and yes, some smaller parcels too, this just drives me nuts. For me, letters go in the letter case, flats in the flat case, and parcels in the parcel tubs. When I see a mixture, it bothers me to no end and I have to tell myself to let it go, because in the long run, a few out of place parts are unimportant. But, at that moment, it is huge for me and I have to give myself mental pep talks to walk myself through. Maybe I'm slightly OCD. I don't really believe that, it's just a little a tiny quirk. Alas, when writing a book and I find mistakes after countless proofreads, it's needless to say, I'm irritated because I worked so hard to make everything perfect, and now it's not. Sometimes we have to let things go and allow the not perfect to be perfect.