You Ruined My Happy Life!

Although I was being reprehended from the back seat there was no problem hearing with clarity, "You ruined my happy life!"

I had taken my youngster away from her friends house with the a forehand understanding that we would only be able to visit for a short amount of time.
Somewhere between the school where the promise was made and the coveted place of departure, memory loss had set in.

Although she was able to stay and visit twice the amount of previously agreed upon time, her life was now ruined and I was the culprit.

What had started out to be an act of fun spontaneity had now turned into a future topic for her one-day-I-will-need-to-be-in-therapy session.

As I fought off any feelings of guilt (which by the way is a zillion times easier to do when it isn't your child), I reflected how even as adults, we can allow a single disapproving experience to "ruin our happy lives".

Have you ever done that?
Let the rain ruin the picnic and forget that you are in company with people you love?
Focus on the one disappointing report card grade and miss the child's love of learning?
Show disapproval to a spouse for not getting "it" (whatever that "it" is) right and forget that numerous people yearn just to have a companion? 

Well, I could have been a multiple-unhappy-life-reincarnated you-name-it I have done this so much.

When I viewed the melodramatic display from the rear view mirror, I could see the comical nature of it all.  
Why then is it so hard to see when it is me blowing things so far out of proportion that it appears I used explosives?
Why am I the exception to ridiculousness? 

Small people often teach large lessons.

So next time you might be thinking your happy life is ruined, stop and count your blessings instead.

"Better to lose count while naming your blessings than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles." ~Maltbie D. Babcock