Assumptions

Today when I was walking to my car after running an errand, I shrieked.
There was a huge gash on the back bumper of my car.
The paint was scrapped off, several places were dented, and I was livid.
Our car isn't even a year old, and I was already the victim of a hit and run accident,
and we had just gotten the car fixed about a month ago.
I called my husband.
Someone hit our car and just left. I can't believe this. There's no note, no nothing.
We're going to have to get this fixed again. Can you even believe it?!
In my mind I was cursing at the inconsiderate human being who thought
it was okay to nail into the side of my car, and then drive away. UGH.
I was on my knees rubbing where the paint had gotten scrapped off,
realizing that our car looked completely wrecked.

I stood up, and my eye caught the far side of the parking lot.
I whispered to my husband,
Oh my gosh. This isn't our car.
He started laughing uncontrollably. Like he often does at my fantastic life experiences.
He said I'm with two co-workers, can I please tell them?
Whatever. At least our car was not the one with the dents all over it.

This experience got me thinking.
Maybe to save face and create a learning experience out of it, I don't know.
But I started thinking of all the times I've jumped to conclusions,
passed judgement before knowing the whole story,
and seen other people do the same.

It's easy to think that you've placed all the pieces together
and know exactly how to judge someone else's situation.
It's easy to have your feelings get hurt when you misinterpret what someone says to you,
and to assume that a bad event is going to become a worst case scenario.
We're human, and we think like that sometimes.
But today I realized that if we take the time to stop and look around,
we might find ourselves standing at the completely wrong car.





literally.