Sometimes, things aren't as the seem...

Yesterday we were leisurely driving back to the dorms after church having conversations about the meaning of life and other fun topics like that (I'm currently staying at the Olympic Training Center). We were near our destination when we were forced to come to an abrupt stop because of two dogs in the street. One was standing in my lane and the other was running back and forth from the yellow line to the curb. I had a dog lover in the backseat with me and she was scared out of her mind for these dogs (inside joke: almost as if the dog's name was on the Deathnote). She wanted to jump out of the van and rescue them. Meanwhile, there was a 20-something male wearing Tom's who was trying to get the dogs out of the street. It was a 20 second episode that seemed like 10 or more minutes, you know what I mean?

Well, the dude in the Tom's grabbed the dog that had been running around by his collar and threw him to the curb. Literally, he threw him. 15 feet in the air. The dog landed in the grass and took off running in the opposite direction. Said passenger lost her mind! She wanted to get into this guy's face and let him know that his actions were not alright. Then, both dogs ran across to the other side of the road and started walking down the sidewalk. My lane was opened, so I started driving. Still, the was more anger in the backseat and this particular passenger was frantically scrambling to open the window or door or anything to get at this guy. I wasn't interested in confrontation, especially over a couple of dogs, so I drove on. We were all disturbed by what we saw.

Then...in my mirror, I saw these dogs go into a house and the guy kept walking. Suddenly, it dawned on me that he wasn't the owner of the dogs. Honestly, my perception of the entire situation changed. It went from being bad to good. This guy was actually saving the dogs! He wasn't abusing them. He was clearly in a fight or flight moment and was doing his best to keep the dogs from becoming roadkill. He saved their lives! This guy was a hero. Needless to say, the backseat was in a state of confusion and extended explanations were needed to understand the events that unfolded before our eyes. We had it all wrong. Sometimes, things aren't as they seem.

It was one of those simple moments in life that have a profound impact. My perspective was wrong, and likely on good merit. I assumed the situation was one way when it was the opposite. The life application from this moment can become invaluable if we remember that the way we see something often formulates our thought process that draws conclusions in every situation. The above situation never changed, but how I saw it did.