A Bumpy Ride with Ugly Luggage

WOW!  Bailee's illness turned out to be strep.  She missed four days of school and dance, which means she was one VERY sick little girl.  She became a slug/couch potato and slept most of the time.  She was miserable.  Her grandmother came down with bronchitis, so she was also ill (but thankfully not as bad as Bailee).


Of course, I caught both bugs.  At the same time.  I do not do things half way.  Just because I'm me, and I get dehydrated easily when I am ill and running a fever, I also got an ugly UTI.  My body has been my worst enemy for nearly two weeks.  I am starting to feel better now, but my energy level is down.  Way down.  Unfortunately, expectations on me have gone up.  Who is in charge of that stuff?  I was very thankful to have the coming week off for spring break (my daughter's school district had last week off - which I found stupid).  I woke up this morning with a side ache.  On my right side.  Yeah, you can probably guess where my thoughts went.  Sheesh!  Needless to say, I decided to pass on working at the studio on costume and set clean up this morning.  My daughter was fine with that (she still went, along with my sister), but my sister and mother are not happy with me.  There will be a sign-up sheet for others who are displeased circulating ... please feel free to sign.


Which comes to today's topic - expectations.  Some of us have low expectations, others have high expectations.  For ourselves.  For others.  Honestly, I have pretty high expectations for myself.  I worked at the shop last night, then came home and did three hours of work on the studio website.  Today I'll be working on preparations for spring registration (brochures, fliers, ads, etc.).  I will also correct papers, plan lessons for April, work on AIMS Web, and Safari Montage lessons.  Somewhere in there I will clean house, make bread, and plan and prepare dinners for the week.  Oh, and then there's the garden to plan and yardwork to think about.  See ... I am NOT a slouch. 


My frustration stems from people who decide I am a slouch because I let one of my pieces of luggage stay on the carousel today.  Why are we so harsh with others?  Why do we feel the need to judge others? 


Lest you think I am an angel in this regard, I'll admit to getting frustrated when I feel others have dropped the ball.  I am irked when my students don't study for tests or complete assignments.  I am cranky when people show up late, or miss appointments.  I sigh deeply when people I am depending on don't do the things they agreed to do. 


This all brings me to this observation.  Do I know their stories?  Do I know what is going on in their life?  Do I know how many balls they're trying to juggle or how many pieces of luggage they're trying to keep track of?  The honest truth is - I don't.  If I don't know all the struggles they are facing, what makes me think I am in a position to judge them?  Honestly, it's a right I don't have.  I don't like it when others judge me, so why do I turn around and do the same thing?


I'm not saying I'm going to drop expectations I have for other people.  However, I think from now on I will try to have a little more understanding.  Before rushing to judgment, I'm going to seek out the "rest of the story" and exhibit the compassion I would like to be given.  After all ... we're all fighting a hard battle.