Perception vs. Reality

by Mama Mabel
 
I had a rough morning yesterday.  I woke up grumpy and banged around the house yelling at the animals and speaking gruffly to Ladybug.  I finally got it together enough to get in the car and go to work but first I hit the steering wheel, screamed and cried a little.  I was in full on meltdown mode.  Then I realized that I was lower on gas that I had thought so I prayed my way into work which helped me reset my thought process.  Gradually the beauty of the trees in all their fall splendor soothed my raging emotions.  I'm not proud of my fit but glad I made it through without doing anything too terrible like screaming at Coondog who thankfully slept through my bout of insanity or cussing in front of Ladybug.  Believe me, I was on the verge.  (Fun fact:  there is a family legend that my dear Grandmama once spanked my uncle for the heinous offense of "almost making her cuss.")  In retrospect, I let my grumpiness taint my perceptions until they were totally skewed.  For example:

Perception:  Coondog thoughtlessly woke me up making unnecessary noise in the middle of the night.
Reality:  It started to mist and Coondog singlehandedly hauled in everything we had on our porch to protect it. 

Perception:  Coondog let the outdoor dog in after I went to sleep so he could play with it and then it jumped in my bed and woke me up.  How rude!
Reality:  The dog got in while Coondog hauled our things off the porch and he put him back outside as soon as he finished.  On top of that, he apologized for both the dog and the noise in the sweetest way possible when he found me awake.

Perception:  Ladybug was being unreasonable and fussy and I didn't have time for it.
Reality:  Okay, she was being fussy but it's mostly because I slept late and tried to rush her from one thing to the next.  Plus I was fussing at her for being in the way as I tried to get ready.  That's kind of her job.  She's a toddler who routinely participates in my morning routine.  She was in her normal spot.

Perception:  Me being low on gas was somehow Coondog's fault.
Reality:  I'm the one who drove the car the day before and brought it home in that state.  He's the one who told me that there were 2 gallons of gas in a gas can in the shed if I needed it which I rushed off without putting in my car.

Turns out all my sources of stress and self-pity were either my own fault or non-existent.  Makes me feel like a dingbat.  I'm so thankful Coondog slept through it and Ladybug holds no grudges.  The Bible says that God's mercies are new each morning.  Thankfully that included yesterday morning because I desperately needed it.