Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Ah, Sweet Mysteries of Life

 
 Odd, how differently people interpret the events that make up their lives.
One of our daughters sometimes complains that she didn’t have a happy childhood. Her siblings don’t feel the same. During one of her complaining sessions, her sister said to her, “Sounds like you grew up in a different household than I did. I don’t remember things that way at all! I remember many happy times. Actually, we had a lot of fun growing up.”
With that fresh on my mind, I was talking to a friend last night when she broached the same subject. She said one of her sons complains all the time about his miserable childhood, while his brother and sister both recall fun-filled, happy childhood memories.

One wonders how two children can grow up in the same surroundings and come away with different recollections.


My friend, Carol, adds the best example by sharing a remark her mother used to make: “When I was a child,” she said, “I was so embarrassed when I had to get off the school bus in front of my house knowing all my friends would see the chickens walking around in my yard and on the front porch.”
But her sister’s interpretation was quite different. She said, “I loved seeing those chickens on the front porch and in the yard, ‘cause I knew that meant we were gonna have plenty of eggs!”
It’s all a matter of perception, isn’t it? We can either complain about the presence of chickens in our lives or be grateful for the eggs they provide.
And so it goes...
~~~

6 comments:

Jon said...

How right you are Peggy! Some people would complain about the chickens and not be thankful for the eggs. Nice post.

Vi A. Daniels said...

good read...so true.

Diane Rollins said...

How true! :)

Dennis J. said...

Great post. Love the one about the chickens and eggs and it couldn't be more true!

Sara said...

Very interesting. It's true that siblings raised in the same family can perceive things quite differently.

Tempest Nightingale LeTrope said...

There were nice memories from my childhood. There were also some awful ones. My father was a good-hearted man, but he was a terrible perfectionist, and I always felt like I could never measure up. To this day, I question my every thought.
I had chickens when I was growing up, as it happens!