Tuesday, July 21, 2009

. . . But Maybe Not

When I was young I was reading an article on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. It told the story of a family that chose to attend church and refrain from shopping and various other extracurricular activities on Sunday. The Dad promised his young family that as they lived this commandment that they would find happiness as a family.

One day, on the way to church, they saw their neighbor leaving with his family, pulling their boat behind their truck, laughing and having a great time as they headed for the lake. The little son told his Dad, "Yes, Dad, they look absolutely miserable."

Good thing that life is an endurance race and not a sprint.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine made a decision I really did not agree with. As Garry and Stephanie can testify to, I became very upset and fixated upon this friend and her decision. We have not spoken since, and in my mind I pictured her continue to wrestle with her decision, internally still torn, trying to find a way to unmake her horrible mistake. I pictured her sad. Maybe crying? Walking the halls at night? Restless inside and out?

I had that mental picture for 20 days until she posted pictures on Facebook. She looked like she was really happy. A big old grin glued on her face. Living the life. Living her life.

And I realized, I really should just live my life and let other people live theirs because they are so much better at it then I am.

2 comments:

Tina said...

This is a great lesson for all of us . . . one that I'm trying to convince myself of right now . . . . live and let live. It's hard when they are you own children though . . . .

LeeAnn said...

...And good friends. Cause we love them both.