Waiting for Something

I mowed the yard at our new house today for the first time. It's a pretty good sized yard and it was the first time I had used our push mower in over a year and a half (we were spoiled at our last house by our delightful neighbors having a zero-turn riding mower.) There is a ditch in the front of the house that is tricky to mow & a slight incline from the street corner all the way to our driveway. It ended up being a serious workout that left me feeling very thirsty for the hour and 45 minutes I mowed.

At one point I found myself wishing that my wife would bring me some cold water to abate my thirst. I could have stopped and come inside to get it myself, but wanted to keep moving to finish up. I actually found myself getting more frustrated as I got hotter and yet no one brought any water out. As I kept pushing on and glancing at the front porch hoping for refreshment, I realized how foolish I was being. I was getting worked up over something that I hadn't even asked anybody to do. I ended up laughing out loud (at myself) as I recognized what I was doing. I was getting upset over my own unexpressed, unmet expectations. Naturally, shortly after I had my front-yard epiphany my wife showed up with cold water for me. She's good to me that way. 

Make sure you communicate what your thoughts are instead of hoping people read them and react the way you want.