What are Your Perceptions and are They Getting in Your Way?

 Yesterday, while driving to Church I learned a few lessons from one incident. ( I posted quite a while ago about my pet peeve of people pulling out in front of me (while driving) and the insight I had from that experience at Rapid Eye Certification.)
    Well, yesterday on the way to Church I had a little red toyota pickup truck pull out RIGHT in front of me, with no other traffic behind me.  I had my ipod tuned to a song about Being the Light when this happened and I was in a good mood!  My first thought was, "unbelievable" and then I smiled and laughed because I was not going to let the other driver bother me or change my mood; however, I didn't slow down very  much and was relatively close to the truck in front of me for a second until he sped up to the speed limit. 
    Then something interesting happened: he slowed down to almost a stop.  I was confused for a second until he flipped me off; then I realized that he probably saw me laughing and thought I was laughing at him!  He was probably also not happy that I didn't brake more than I did. 
   The funny thing is that I wasn't laughing at him; I was laughing and singing along to the happy song; I guess I wasn't perceived as sharing the light? 
   As in most every experience I have, I like to find a lesson in it.  The first insight I had was a reminder that our perceptions are frequently not accurate, but my next insight and lesson was very personal. 
   I was listening to the song about sharing the light and feeling happy but didn't think to extend kindness to someone who obviously needed it.  I am a little ashamed that I didn't brake more and give that driver a break because who knows why he pulled right out in front of me?  He could have been having a bad day, was in a hurry to get somewhere, a family emergency, or whatever. 
   It's funny how such a simple thing as being bothered by something so trivial can bring about such great insights;  maybe that's because I can always learn ways to be a better person and improve myself.  Whatever the reasons, I am grateful. 



                                                   The Light, by April Merservy