Complacency and Perception

I wonder if at times we don't get too comfortable in our own shoes. We just "ride" through life day by day by day and just do those things we need to "just get by." Sure every once in awhile something comes along and changes things up a bit, new job, going back to school, babies being born, car trouble, failing a test, missing important obligations. All things warranting the term interruption to our complacency, but for the most part doable.... so long as they don't all happen at once. Not to say they won't, but individually they are manageable.

While I don't wish losing a child on anyone, it has put a stop to my "complacency" in life, thrown me out of the drivers seat and into a ditch on the side of the road. I have a renewed desire to do what is right. I have a renewed desire to please my Father in Heaven. I have a renewed desire to never forget those principles and doctrines I have been taught and to share them with others. I have a renewed desire because the Lord's promises are sure and I want to be there to raise my son when the time comes.

I went to "Fish" class for work, nothing short of boring (sorry to my fellow coworkers and managers) but I did take one thing from it and I guess that is really all I can hope for at this point. The educator said, "It is all about our perception." She gave traffic as an example. For her, that is the change of attitude for her in the day. When she misses her "window of opportunity" to get to work in just the right amount of time, she ends up sitting in horrible traffic, resulting in a sour mood.

Another colleague of her has to drive almost two times as far and enjoys every minute of it. She has young children and practically jumps in the car to get some peace and quiet or listen to a book on tape or her own CD and not Barney or the Wiggles. It is her time to and from work to get ready to go to work and then to detox.

These two women have two very different perceptions of traffic. I guess that is kind of like the perception of losing a child. The way I see it, I can travel down two different roads. I can travel down the road less traveled, kick up my heels, and put my shoulder to the wheel OR I can crawl into a hole of darkness and pity and feel sorry for myself (with good reason) for the rest of my life or even just a few years. But then what good would that do me? What good does it do to hide from our trials or cower when something "hard" comes our way? It doesn't. We only feel more pity and loneliness than we did before.... or maybe not. Hopefully I have chosen the road less traveled although some days I take a detour into the hole, but I eventually come out.