Taking Off Rose-Colored Glasses

My mother said to this procrastinator, “Beth, you always count on perfection. Life is not like that.”

She was right. I routinely counted on all green lights and no traffic. I didn’t calculate accurately or allow margin when I left the house. For a ten minute drive, I allowed ten minutes. What about traffic? Weather? Parking?

I formed unrealistic views of how positively things would work out. Rose-colored glasses make things look the way I want them to – favorable for me. Nobody else is wearing those glasses. I don’t see the reality of the situation. When I take off the rose-colored glasses (or they get knocked off by circumstances I’ve brought on myself), I suddenly realize the things I assumed are not true. There was not time to iron my skirt before my ride came. I can’t leave the house because the cake is not done.

Procrastinators looking through rose colored glasses form expectations that are not reality. What we envision cannot happen because our vision relies on fantasy. We are surprised when time is up, dinner is not ready, or the report is due. We think we can do it all. We think others will not be affected. We think we will be allotted more time when everybody else already has their work in.

Do you see yourself wearing RCG’s?

• Making assumptions based on what you want to believe. (See “Falsehood and Fantasy” April 8, 2018) “They won’t be here for thirty minutes.” “The children will do the chores without my follow up.”
• Relying on an exception. I once drove to my friend’s house in 20 minutes. So I began allowing 20 minutes’ travel time to the monthly meeting at her house. Three months in a row I was very late. Mortified, I knew I had to figure this out. So on the way home, I counted the number of traffic signals between her house and mine. Fifteen! Plus stop signs, traffic, and twelve miles between houses. How in the world did I ever think I could get there in 20 minutes? I was counting on a fluke to be the norm. I was wearing oversized rose-colored glasses.
• Trying to do more than is possible in the amount of time you have. You cannot run three errands in twenty minutes and arrive at class on time.
• Ignoring the need for margin in case of the unexpected. Avoid scheduling down to the wire without allowing space for what you do not know about and cannot control. A detour, a closed store.
• Presuming to think you can do something later under positive conditions with positive results. You have no control over later. God has given you now.   Later you may have a sick child or an unexpected business trip.

Seeing clearly enables us to do what needs doing when it needs doing.

When do you wear rose-colored glasses? How will you remove them to see clearly and act according to reality?