Eh Hum. Well that's kind of rude.
There are always those that no matter how grand life is, they will always find something wrong with it. No matter if you performed your activity with pure perfection, they will always find something you could do better. They can take a simple conversation about how wonderful the sun feels and turn it into a full blown negative conversation about how it is shining too much or not enough.
We walk away from that negative conversation with our own shoulders slumped, our spirit stomped on and no smile on our faces.
It is not fair of me to say that I don't like everyone I meet, it is more correct to state that I just do not enjoy everyone's company that I meet.
We all encounter those individuals that when you see them from afar, you stop, assess the situation and look for an alternate route around them. We know the conversation will be pessimistic before we even start and we are not always in the mood to deal with the unfavorable effects that the exchange could have on us.
Let me tell you of this story.
The Spring after I began writing my blog I encountered one such woman. It's not like I could avoid her each and every time we met, since we attended many of the same events. One such day I turned and observed her making a bee line straight for me. My muscles tensed, my teeth gritted against each other and I thought, " Oh SNAP!" Too late. Eye contact. Fudge.
Walking back to our vehicles slowly we began the usual exchange. I could have given her a pot of gold and it would not have changed her attitude. I finally had to tell her that her outlook about everything sucked. In a polite, but straight forward fashion that is.
She stopped us on the pathway and told me how much it meant to her that I was honest and that she faithfully reads my blog. That she looks forward to each week.
I nodded, smiled and said thank you and turned to leave because I did not wholeheartedly believe her. She then put her hands on my shoulders so that I would pay better attention and said, " No Carey, you don't understand. My shoulders are so heavy. I have a hard time handling my life and keeping a positive attitude. When I read your blog it brings me some peace and perspective."
Oh.
Standing there in shock, trying to quickly comprehend what just erupted out of this woman's mouth, I learned a lesson about myself. I judged her quickly because of the exterior that she portrayed. I did not once attempt to look past it at the depressed spirit she was carrying around. I didn't want to. It was not pleasant to be around her. Her body slumped and her eyes, for the first time, were not hard with resentment.
I sighed. At the same time I was recovering from her confession, I rolled my eyes toward God for pushing me to do the right thing and silently sent him a message. " You had better make it worth it when I get up there!" I envision that His lips formed a slight smirk and I believe He even added a sarcastic wink. He has a sense of humor, that God.
We have no idea who will need us and when. We have no
idea how our words or actions can affect someone. Had she not put her hands on my shoulders, I would have quickly ended our conversation for fear of how it would spiral down. I did not offer advice, I listened and fervently attempted to steer her down a more positive path. ( for everyone's sake!)
Since that time we have developed a better relationship and even spoke of that exact moment as I am describing it to you. As it turns out, she assumed I was a bit of a snoot because of my quiet personality and tendency to be introverted. I snickered at our scene. Here we both made assumptions without knowing the true reality of each other.
God puts us in positions that are not always desirable to us. The position that He puts us in may be a lesson for our own learning or it could be that He is using us because that spirit He created will not listen to Him. In this instance, I learned something as well as helped one of His children at the same time.
There are always those that no matter how grand life is, they will always find something wrong with it. No matter if you performed your activity with pure perfection, they will always find something you could do better. They can take a simple conversation about how wonderful the sun feels and turn it into a full blown negative conversation about how it is shining too much or not enough.
We walk away from that negative conversation with our own shoulders slumped, our spirit stomped on and no smile on our faces.
It is not fair of me to say that I don't like everyone I meet, it is more correct to state that I just do not enjoy everyone's company that I meet.
We all encounter those individuals that when you see them from afar, you stop, assess the situation and look for an alternate route around them. We know the conversation will be pessimistic before we even start and we are not always in the mood to deal with the unfavorable effects that the exchange could have on us.
Let me tell you of this story.
The Spring after I began writing my blog I encountered one such woman. It's not like I could avoid her each and every time we met, since we attended many of the same events. One such day I turned and observed her making a bee line straight for me. My muscles tensed, my teeth gritted against each other and I thought, " Oh SNAP!" Too late. Eye contact. Fudge.
Walking back to our vehicles slowly we began the usual exchange. I could have given her a pot of gold and it would not have changed her attitude. I finally had to tell her that her outlook about everything sucked. In a polite, but straight forward fashion that is.
She stopped us on the pathway and told me how much it meant to her that I was honest and that she faithfully reads my blog. That she looks forward to each week.
I nodded, smiled and said thank you and turned to leave because I did not wholeheartedly believe her. She then put her hands on my shoulders so that I would pay better attention and said, " No Carey, you don't understand. My shoulders are so heavy. I have a hard time handling my life and keeping a positive attitude. When I read your blog it brings me some peace and perspective."
Oh.
Standing there in shock, trying to quickly comprehend what just erupted out of this woman's mouth, I learned a lesson about myself. I judged her quickly because of the exterior that she portrayed. I did not once attempt to look past it at the depressed spirit she was carrying around. I didn't want to. It was not pleasant to be around her. Her body slumped and her eyes, for the first time, were not hard with resentment.
I sighed. At the same time I was recovering from her confession, I rolled my eyes toward God for pushing me to do the right thing and silently sent him a message. " You had better make it worth it when I get up there!" I envision that His lips formed a slight smirk and I believe He even added a sarcastic wink. He has a sense of humor, that God.
We have no idea who will need us and when. We have no
Since that time we have developed a better relationship and even spoke of that exact moment as I am describing it to you. As it turns out, she assumed I was a bit of a snoot because of my quiet personality and tendency to be introverted. I snickered at our scene. Here we both made assumptions without knowing the true reality of each other.
God puts us in positions that are not always desirable to us. The position that He puts us in may be a lesson for our own learning or it could be that He is using us because that spirit He created will not listen to Him. In this instance, I learned something as well as helped one of His children at the same time.
That, friends, is an incredible
feeling.
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