Table Scraps

My sweet little Chihuahua, Daisy, lives and breathes for table scraps. Before you go judging me based on what you think I give my dog, you should know that three years ago after an all night event at the emergency vet and an $800 bill we made the decision to stop giving her "people food" because her little doggy tummy couldn't handle it. Daisy, however, has not forgotten one piece of food she has ever received from us and if we fix a food that was ever given to her at anytime in her life she remembers and becomes a relentless beggar (and is usually punished). I'd like to say that it has been three years since she had table scraps but my dad refuses to comply and Daisy is always underfoot when we are cooking; if anything drops from the counter or stove she gobbles it down before it even has time to hit the floor. She, of course, thinks that we gave her that food so the begging continues.

Last year, while pregnant and on my 7th week of bed rest, I was reclined and relaxing on our den couch working on my laptop and eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Daisy was lying next to me and watching LITERALLY every single bite. At one point during my meal I got so caught up in something I was doing on the laptop that I inadvertently held the sandwich off to the side and right in front of her face and before I had even realized what had happened she had gobbled the entire half in one bite. At first I yelled at her and sent her to her crate but upon reflection I began to look at the situation from her perspective. Poor little Daisy was just sitting there watching me eat. From her vantage point it had looked as though I had just stopped eating and held the sandwich out for her to take a bite, not unlike I had done a hundred different times whe she was a puppy (no I do not eat after my dog). My poor little dog has no idea what a laptop is or that I can be distracted by it and she has no reason to believe I wouldn't share the sandwich with her.

I am sorry to say that Daisy isn't the only one to suffer from my inability to see things from another's perspective. I realized recently how easily I get angry at other people because they do something contrary to what I think they should do when I have no idea what things are really like in their lives. So often I demand people to see things from my point of view or to put themselves in my place or in my shoes yet I am totally unwilling to do the same for others. What is it about us that makes us think that our perspective or our situation is so much more unique or demanding than another's? I can think of a million and one times in my relationship with my husband when our arguments have been about trying to make the other person see things from our own point of view rather than us trying to better understand the other person in favor of our own perspective. How has a little perspective changed your relationship with someone?

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
1 Peter 3:8

Your thoughts?