February 5, 2013 What we have the potential to become

When I was a child, there was a house on our street which was owned by a woman we unkindly referred to as "old lady Gordon".  She was an older woman who lived alone and yelled at us over such things as noisy roller skates going past her house, or numerous pranks we enjoyed at her expense.  As children, we were unable to understand why anyone could be so cranky.  But since the advent of my newest neighbors and their idiot dog, I'm beginning to understand.  At first, it was just incessant barking all night long, but it has since escalated to said dog escaping and chasing the mail carrier which resulted in MY mail being stopped temporarily, and MY having to write a letter and deliver it to the post office denying ownership or responsibility of said rat sized creature.  To make matters worse, the police no longer respond to barking dog calls and animal control is not open at night. 

It further frosts my pumpkins that the city goes out of its way to annoy me over trifles around my house which, of course, end up costing me several hundred dollars to remedy to avoid facing fines.  (not to mention requiring numerous phone calls before the city official finally gets off his rump to acknowledge that the remedy has been made and that he can now push a few more papers to remove the fine!) but can't seem to return the favor by resolving issues around my house. 

I never wanted to be that cranky neighbor everyone hated, but between the city's self-serving priorities and my neighbors' lack of consideration, Miss Cranky Pants has entered the building.  Even worse, when I finally bundled up and stomped out my front door in high dudgeon to confront the neighbors myself, the mutt was miraculously quiet and probably tucked inside for the night.

The best course of action is to find a way to resolve this peacefully, but that is going to require a huge amount of throttling back before I can approach the neighbors without wanting to simply hurl abuse and question the parentage of both their children and their pets (assuming they can be easily differentiated) so until that inner peace can be achieved, it's probably just as well that the rat dog shuts its trap when I draw near.  And really, the thing isn't even a real dog!  Even Munchkin, who weighs in at a whopping 7 pounds is bigger than that yappy little mop.

So my task for this week is to regain my inner peace so I can reach a point where I either politely ask the neighbors to stow their mutt or I can find a way to allow it to cease to be an irritant to me. 

Above all, I do not ever want to turn into the "Old Lady Gordon" of this neighborhood!  Although children in their innocence can be very cruel, and I'm sure there was some valid reason why our noises and pranks upset her, I'd much rather be playing with the kids than chastising them.  And really, isn't it easier to teach them to be considerate by showing them some?  (but I do wonder if my kids had an "old lady Gordon" when they were growing up)  Is there a cranky neighbor in everyone's childhood?  And if so, as parents, we might teach our kids a better lesson by trying to learn a little about the person, and by showing them some kindness instead of allowing our kids to torment them. 

My gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful that I'm learning perspective and can appreciate that we all have our story which colors how we perceive the world.
2. I am grateful for days I can work from home.
3. I am grateful for an abundance of love, health, happiness and success.
4. I am grateful for the bonds I have with friends and family, both old and new.
5. I am grateful for resolving problems, finding solutions and making things better.

Love and light.