This morning I listened to my children wake up. My son, the five year old, bounced out of bed, went to the bathroom, and came into the kitchen to give me some love before eating breakfast. He finished eating, took his dishes to the sink and went into his room to get dressed. Isn’t this a lovely story so far? So picturesque.

She, apparently, did not get the same dose of restorative rest as her younger sibling. Mind you, the door had been open this whole time so it wasn’t like she went from zero dark thirty to shiny happy people in a split second. But when she woke up it was clear that last night the princess had slept on pea (okay fine, enough with the cartoon metaphors). Bottom line- she was in a foul mood, and she wasn’t going to let anyone forget it.
The light was too bright. The house was too cold. The breakfast was too…. sweet, or salty, or… or just too breakfast, apparently. And just as point of reference, waiting hot and fresh for her on the table were whole wheat waffles topped with pure maple syrup, sliced bananas and chopped up walnuts, served with a cold glass of milk (so, yes, I admit I might have a problem with overdoing it a mealtime. Maybe. Don’t hate the player, hate the game).
Miss Grumpy Pants, after shoveling the “terrible” breakfast into her mouth, trudged into her room and stomped about, complaining the entire time about “having” to get dressed and how it “wasn’t fair” that her brother got to play while she got dressed and that I clearly must “like him more than her” since I was allowing it.  Never mind the fact that they a) woke up in the same room, with the same mom, on the same day, b)had the same breakfast and the same amount of time to eat it and get ready and; c)we are an equal opportunity household; all members are subject to the same rules and consequences.
In any case, this all got me to thinking. Again. And all before 8am- yikes. What shows up in our lives is 100% a result of our perspective and response. As I’ve said before, we can’t control all of the events in our lives, but we can control our response to it.
Even give the same setup today, my kids responded completely differently. Just like I do, in my own life, and the way I respond to challenges. It looks a little different every time. I am not at the top of my game all day every day. I try, but shit happens. I get frustrated, I sometimes allow myself to be pessimistic, occasionally shift some blame, dodge culpability or blame it on the universe, or timing, or whatever.
Damn universe.  Or is it? Because really, is there a “right” time for everything? Or is there simply a willingness to view it as the right time? Is there a “perfect” opportunity waiting for us, or do we make something great out of something average by our own actions? There is a flip side to just about anything. All things can be viewed as a positive or a negative, a blessing or a lesson, as the proverbial adage goes.  But quite honestly, we create our own reality by the attitudes, perceptions and judgements we bring into the picture. Thus, the universe provides when we are open to seeing its provisions. When it appears closed it is the result of our own shortsightedness.
So let’s put our glasses on, shall we? Perhaps the ones with rose colored lens, for a bit, but also the reading glasses (ooh, better, let’s wear rose colored bifocals!).  Moving forward today, remember the fifth agreement (yes, there’s more, hide your excitement!)- be skeptical, but learn to listen.

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