You have to understand.  Old Navy came into existence right about the same time we had our youngest child.  We were pretty financially challenged, WIC and reduced lunches were our friend, and hand me downs were beyond appreciated (read that to mean thank goodness for the bags of clothes our friends S and J gave to us for our girls).  So – when Old Navy suddenly had a shirt that was only $5 a piece – well suffice it to say EVERYONE could get a BRAND NEW shirt and we would only spend $30!!!  Plus, it was fun. Well at least for us as parents.  Consequently, for YEARS, we bought 6 shirts each 4th of July and everyone was to wear them.  I don’t recall “forcing” anyone, but I guess the unspoken was “you got a brand new shirt, and you will wear it”.

It’s funny how the perspective is different.  DH and I saw this as a celebration  – so fun to have a new shirt for a holiday.  We could attend the picnic and the fireworks all decked out for the holiday.The kids never seemed to complain.  No one said they were not wearing it. Everyone wore it on days past the 4th.  Apparently, however, there was some irritation with holding the company (family) line.  Irritation we never heard about until the crew was much older.  Irritation that has now turned into a family joke.  And based on Twitter – we, as parents, were not alone!

Perspective is everything- well not EVERYTHING, but a lot.  As parents we thought we were doing something special and fun for our family and from our kids perspective, they were mortified to all look alike – especially like their parents.  In my personal life, I have to have a perspective adjustment all the time, every day, several times a day.  Mostly because I fail at having a positive perspective naturally.  I am much more equipped to be suspect of someone or something rather than trusting. More likely to look for the negative. More like a “Henny Penny”.

I don’t know, maybe it is all the time alone with no real direction or maybe it is just what comes with getting older, but I can see myself changing in the area of perspective.  At least I am willing to entertain that everything is not suspect.  That there are other possibilities out there for me.  And I am enjoying that perspective. It is important that we not get carried away here – I am still a realist! Dang!  And I will still call out negative behavior for what it is – but – I am getting better at taking a moment to be sure that the behavior is negative before I start getting after it.

My encouragement today is that we all check our “perspective”.  From what direction are we looking at life?  And what taints that perspective in our lives?  Does that “thing” or “experience” deserve the honor of tainting how we see the world and our neighbors?  Sometimes, it feels like it should and sometimes we give that “thing”the right to taint our view.  And, really, maybe that “thing”does deserve some space, but should “it” color everything we process?  Probably not.  Right now, I frame most things in “I am unemployed”.  Probably need to let go of that.  Probably need to not give it that much control in my life. Ugh- hard to do, it is my “badge” right now.  What is your badge?  We all have one – look at it, evaluate it, decide if it is controlling your perspective and then decide if it should have that much power.  I will work on mine -you work on yours and maybe we have the chance to “see life” from a better place.
BTW – the tradition continues… our one daughter secretly purchased three Old Navy 4th of July shirts for her big brothers new family.  And they wore them. And they took a picture.  Hmmmm….