Perspective

I used to think everyone thought like me. I know it’s silly, but I did. It still takes me by surprise way more than it should. I just really want everything to make sense. People. Their actions. Their reactions. I think that is part of why relationships are so hard. The bigger part is sin, but perspective is in the equation as well. Imagine if we all viewed the world and people from the same lens. Imagine if we came at the world in the same way. Of course, that would be insanely boring and we would be robots, but it would be simpler wouldn’t it? I am so glad that our God is God and not me.

This blog is from my perspective. Obviously. As I write about my husband or children or friends or parents, I have to remember (and so do you) that they have their own perspective as well. They have their own story. People always say that I am a good storyteller. Part of that is because crazy, I mean truly bizarre, things happen to me all the time. But I have learned that those events alone do not make a good story. It is the way I am experiencing them to begin with, my perspective. I am basically always looking for the humor, looking for the story.

There are so many examples in my life of my perspective not lining up with someone else’s. I think this is a classic example. It’s a “good story” and funny now, but it certainly wasn’t then! Our first son, Caleb, was born with special needs. (I will go into more detail about that later.) Our second son, Silas, was born 2 1/2 years later. We talked openly about Caleb and his special needs. Since Silas was younger there was never a big announcement like, “Silas, we have news. Your brother has special needs.” It just was. Silas went to countless doctors appointments, surgeries, therapies, etc. Honestly, I felt pretty good about my parenting in this regard and our open dialogue. One day when Silas was about 3 years old I was cooking. He came walking through the kitchen. I heard him singing in a quiet (but just loud enough to be heard by me) voice (that was way too sing-songy)….. “Something’s wrong with Caleb and nobody’s talkin’ about it.” Then, he went into his bedroom. I followed him and said, “Silas, honey is there something you want to talk about? Do you have some questions about Caleb?” He burst into tears. From his perspective he didn’t know what was going on. All that information, that open dialogue, was not a cohesive explanation. None of it made sense to him. He was confused. He was scared. I felt like THE ACTUAL WORST.

I have to say, mostly I enjoy my perspective. I view the world extremely optimistically most of the time. So, I have a lot of fun! However, there is the flip side of that…. when my optimism and reality collide. That’s tough.

Perspective… all I can say is, I’m writing from mine.