Duped

As I drove home from Ohio this evening I encountered rain of varying intensities. Never bad enough to obstruct my view and cause me to pull over for safety, but hard enough that the windshield wipers had to be on high several times. I got to a point on 77S where this was my view. I was excited and thankful to see I would soon drive out of the rain. As long as I didn't have to stop I figured I should be able to stay ahead of the storm for the last half of my trip since there was not a strong wind moving the clouds my direction. I was looking forward to that sunshine ahead because a drive under sunny skies takes less mental energy than a drive under dark, cloudy skies.

"Gotcha".

Another example of looks can be deceiving. The light sky was not the result of sunshine. Nor was it less intense cloud cover. It was simply a different color of clouds accompanied by lighter, less frequent rain bursts. So in a sense nothing about my drive was going to change. I recognized, as my heart dropped a little, I had a choice to make.

I could be discouraged and frustrated that I had been duped-there was no sunny sky to drive under this evening or I could be thankful my drive was now less stressful because though the clouds were still thick and they still leaked, they were not as dark. 

Today I chose thankfulness and everything about the drive changed.

Perspective and expectations can make or break an experience.