Open mouth insert foot..................

A few days ago a friend of mine sent me a detailed report of his latest trail run. I am always telling him that he should write a book because he has a wonderful style of writing and story telling. In his description of the remote place in which the race was held he wrote the following sentence: "__________ is smaller than tiny." Don't you love that? The depth of description in that simplicity boggles my mind.

So what does "smaller than tiny" look like? Ever see a twenty-eight week premature baby? How about a sliver of glass or wood stuck in the tip of your finger? Oh! And how about the print on an over the counter medication bottle? All smaller than tiny don't ya think?

I had an encounter today, that would fall into this description. Such a non-blip on my radar screen that when a third party called to ask me about it my memory had to be jogged for me to recall the event. Apparently, to the other party, this event was anything but smaller than tiny. Maybe even larger than huge. To her anyway. So, the loving, right thing to do is honor her right to feel the way she does. Whether or not the way she is feeling is the opposite of my intentions, it is her reality. Regrets and an apology have been extended.

One more example of the fact that we never know how our words and/or actions are going to be taken by another. Though this time an action that meant nothing to me was taken negatively, there have been just as many times that an action that I didn't think twice about has made a wonderful, positive world of difference. I guess if I were to state a goal regarding all of this it would be to try and rack up a greater number of positive encounters than negative ones.

I am saddened by the fact that this person did not feel able to let me know the impact my action had on her. Had she been able to do that, the matter could have been cleared up and I could have offered her forgiveness face to face. It is not my place to speculate as to why she did not speak up for herself, but I would like to encourage anyone out that is feeling hurt or wronged to do so. As hard as it might be to speak up for yourself, it is often the only chance one has of resolving the conflict and moving forward with the relationship. Especially if the other person truly doesn't know they have caused harm. As convenient as it might be at times (most especially Christmas and one's birthday) most of us are not mind readers and need a little help from our friends to stay on track from time to time. And as you can see from this post, some of us might need more help than others. Thanks third party.