We had a debate recently about Kanti and the perspectives differed substantially depending on each person's experience with her. We all agreed that she is extraordinarily pretty and overall quite good-natured. She's very trusting and certain that when we remove her bone from her mouth to reposition her outside on the deck, we are going to return that bone. She is as gentle as an 83 pound, year old shepherd is capable of which means that sometimes she forgets that we are not her four legged family and we are nearly knocked over in the play.
During that debate I expressed frustration that she wanted to eat her leash instead of walk nicely; Greg's experience was a fun-loving critter with boundless energy. When someone else complained that Kanti "runs away into the forest" when they let her off leash, Greg proclaimed that she never runs away on him she "just goes exploring". Further questioning brought to light that she goes exploring out of sight which might qualify as running into the forest. The debate went back and forth as we sought to understand and reconcile the individual Kanti experiences of four people. Greg was steadfast in his position that she can do no wrong, she is unusually smart, she is really funny, and she doesn't mean to be bad. Finally, someone called it how it is. One of the four told Greg "you have your Kanti goggles on again!" Priceless.
Guess what? Kanti conquered her fear of the basement stairs this week. She did so because our number one son was persistent in his belief that she could do it, and patient in standing with her, moving one stair at a time until she was comfortable. He moved her feet up a stair, she moved her feet back down, he moved her feet up again and so it went. Showering her with praise and encouragement, eventually she did it.
The following day, I received a forward email that started with the line "If you could see yourself through my eyes" and it was inspirational and thought provoking. Greg sent it to me and that got me to thinking. He tells me frequently that I'm beautiful, but I know I'm kind of ordinary a bit too short a little out of shape and the owner of some wrinkles and age-spots that I don't remember asking to join the parade. But, either he's a damn good liar or he has 'Joy goggles' as well as Kanti goggles because he does it so convincingly that over the years we have been married I have stopped arguing with him when he does it and just started to say thanks.
Eventually that line of thought prompted me to consider that we do that to some degree or other with those we love. We see the good in them, we encourage them to be their best, we cheer when they succeed. While those we love may frustrate us, if we chose to be their champion we have the pleasure of witnessing them flourish. I think God must see us through a set of goggles too. He chose Moses to be a leader, Sarah to have a baby, David to be a King, and Gideon to be a warrior, on and on the stories go. It just makes sense, He made us, so he sees the good and wants the best. He sees you through goggles with your name on, but in our house we have adopted the phrase 'Kanti goggles' to explain the whole phenomena.
During that debate I expressed frustration that she wanted to eat her leash instead of walk nicely; Greg's experience was a fun-loving critter with boundless energy. When someone else complained that Kanti "runs away into the forest" when they let her off leash, Greg proclaimed that she never runs away on him she "just goes exploring". Further questioning brought to light that she goes exploring out of sight which might qualify as running into the forest. The debate went back and forth as we sought to understand and reconcile the individual Kanti experiences of four people. Greg was steadfast in his position that she can do no wrong, she is unusually smart, she is really funny, and she doesn't mean to be bad. Finally, someone called it how it is. One of the four told Greg "you have your Kanti goggles on again!" Priceless.Guess what? Kanti conquered her fear of the basement stairs this week. She did so because our number one son was persistent in his belief that she could do it, and patient in standing with her, moving one stair at a time until she was comfortable. He moved her feet up a stair, she moved her feet back down, he moved her feet up again and so it went. Showering her with praise and encouragement, eventually she did it.
The following day, I received a forward email that started with the line "If you could see yourself through my eyes" and it was inspirational and thought provoking. Greg sent it to me and that got me to thinking. He tells me frequently that I'm beautiful, but I know I'm kind of ordinary a bit too short a little out of shape and the owner of some wrinkles and age-spots that I don't remember asking to join the parade. But, either he's a damn good liar or he has 'Joy goggles' as well as Kanti goggles because he does it so convincingly that over the years we have been married I have stopped arguing with him when he does it and just started to say thanks.
Eventually that line of thought prompted me to consider that we do that to some degree or other with those we love. We see the good in them, we encourage them to be their best, we cheer when they succeed. While those we love may frustrate us, if we chose to be their champion we have the pleasure of witnessing them flourish. I think God must see us through a set of goggles too. He chose Moses to be a leader, Sarah to have a baby, David to be a King, and Gideon to be a warrior, on and on the stories go. It just makes sense, He made us, so he sees the good and wants the best. He sees you through goggles with your name on, but in our house we have adopted the phrase 'Kanti goggles' to explain the whole phenomena.
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