I had an interesting experience at the laundromat yesterday. Actually, in the parking lot.
I’d gone back to the car to knit while my throw rugs were being washed when I heard a woman’s voice nearby. “Excuse me, ma’am….” I looked up from my knitting to see her standing right there next to my window and, when she’d seen that she’d gotten my attention, proceeded to chastise me for having a Montana license plate. I was completely caught off guard and startled—I didn’t know what to say. She was obviously offended by why she assumed I had Montana plates. I sat in stunned silence as she got into her vehicle and drove off.
I’ll never know exactly why she was offended. By what she said, it was clear she didn’t have all the facts, but there was nothing I could’ve said that would’ve changed her mind. I thought it was sad that anyone would be so disturbed by something so insignificant as a license plate that they felt that they had to express their feelings—not for dialogue’s sake, but to admonish. I doubt doing so made her happy.
This practice of daily gratitude has taught me a thing or two about doing what doesn’t come naturally. That is, to immediately diffuse my negativity by expressing gratitude for what had just happened. So I did it even though I didn’t mean it. I tried thinking of reasons to be grateful for what had just happened, but it wasn’t easy. But just for starters, I was grateful that occurrences like that are the exception in my life.
The practice of gratitude encourages me to turn a negative situation around by viewing it as a lesson, so I’m working on that. Realizing that there are a lot more positive people in my life than negative ones is a tremendous blessing—and this experience makes me realize that I’ve taken that for granted. I’m grateful for difficult people who show me exactly what I don’t want to be.
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. ~ James 1:12
