Really, Sun? Come On!

mad pouty face emoticonWe’re traveling with our 12-year-old this weekend.  Driving down the interstate, I heard his whine from the back seat, “Really, Sun?  Come on!  Are you kidding me?”  Apparently, he viewed the sunshine through his car window as a personal offense…

My suggestion that he move to the shaded side of the car was met with a host of reasons he couldn’t move, presented in a pompous tone clearly intended to let me know how incredibly stupid I must be to suggest such a practical solution.

My amused query, “So what would you suggest?” led to a litany of complaints and solutions that he found more palatable.

“Just stop at the next store and buy a window shade!”  “Why can’t we go another way, so the sun will shine on the other side?”  “Why does the sun have to shine so bright, anyway?”  These all delivered in a tone in which he somehow managed to express both annoyance and condescension, simultaneously…while remaining completely oblivious to the ridiculousness of his position.

Parents of adolescents never need look far for entertainment…  🙂

The conversation got me to thinking, though.  I wonder how often I’m completely oblivious to my own ridiculousness?  How many times do I choose to complain or blame, to avoid changing my position?  How many times do I look for any solution, no matter how impractical or unlikely, to avoid a solution that I see as inconvenient?

How many times do I expect God to change my circumstances when the more obvious path would be to accept my circumstances for what they are and adapt my position, accordingly?

Seeing the ridiculousness of someone else’s behavior is always easier than seeing my own ridiculous expectations…

Your thoughts?

[Linked to Graceful , Wellspring, ]