Tonight's picture was taken on July 4th of 2007. We took Mattie to Boston to visit Peter's parents and family. Sitting next to Mattie is our nephew, Nat. Nat is now 16 years old, but when this photo was taken he was only 10 years old. Around the age Mattie would be today if he were alive! For me, Mattie will always be stuck at the age of 7, yet I see many children all around me growing up. Naturally this is part of life, just not a part of our lives.
Quote of the day: Life's under no obligation to give us what we expect. ~ Margaret Mitchell
Margaret Mitchell's quote is simple, one sentence long, and to the point. But wow, she was SO right!!! Expectations maybe what causes some of our greatest disappointments. We have expectations for our future, our careers, our family, our friends, and the list goes on. When such expectations are not met, a host of emotions or thoughts can arise. Such thoughts as.... I am a failure or my friend, spouse, mom, sibling, etc. doesn't love or truly care about me.
In life, we all experience highs and lows. What produces highs and lows maybe different for each of us, meaning the triggers maybe different but the outcomes in many cases are the same. When going through high or low points, most of us have the expectation that those closest to us will understand, want to be there for us, support us, celebrate with us, and so forth. Chances are when this doesn't happen, when such an expectation isn't met, great disappointment ensues and it compounds the hurt from the low, or deflates the happiness of the high point! I am just as guilty, if not more so, about having high expectations for those closest to me. I have found though that level setting my expectations for others does help to mitigate many of disappointed feelings. Yet I hold high expectations for myself as I relate to others. But at the end of the day, the only expectations I can manage or change are my own. It would be a lot easier if we could just shut out the world at times, to protect ourselves, yet I have found the secret to surviving life is really quite simple...... we need the love and support of key people in our lives.
Today was a day filled with chores. The highlight for me was going out to lunch with my two friends, Carolyn and Mary. Carolyn's birthday was in May and we just got around to celebrating it today! On the way to the restaurant today I noticed that the air conditioning wasn't working in my car. The notion of losing two of our cars to repairs in one week was beyond what I could handle. So on the way to lunch, I called Peter and we strategized how to fix this problem. Since it is HOT in DC, driving around without air for a long period of time, isn't a great plan. However, to my surprise, after lunch, I turned on the car and the air was working! My mom called it a "Mattie Miracle." Whatever it was, I am thrilled not to have our second car taken away from us this week.
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