Buddy ate my horsey!

i have two precious lil angels, one learning to write, the other learning the joys of potty training. lol this past weekend they lost a member of their family, their dog, buddy. the older one was rather distraught by the loss, so i called trying to cheer her up. when she mentioned buddy moved to a different house, i asked what happened, and heard in the background the lil toddler say "buddy ate my horsey!" (which he had...it was a toy horse she'd received just that week as a gift) the older one replied to her sister "yes we know buddy ate your horsey. now stop saying that!!" i suppressed a giggle as i heard the words...then heard the tone.....it was as though she was frustrated that all anyone could remember about buddy was he ate a toy.
they didn't remember how he'd guard the girls as they were outside playing.
they didn't remember how he'd curl up with you and love on you even if you were having a bad day.
they didn't remember how he'd let the girls play with him without snapping at them...even as the toddler clutched fistfuls of fur and tried to ride him like a pony.
they just remembered he ate another toy....and that was the last straw.

it made me stop and think.....how often do we do the same? how many relationships have been paralyzed, if not severed because one person forgets all the good qualities and just remembers that one "unforgivable atrocity that damned the entire world"?

i'd like to think of myself as fairly easy going....flexible....rolling with the punches....in my own quirkily eccentric manner, of course....
but i have to admit.....at work, i'm one of the first to kill the wounded instead of helping them. working in an office of 13 women, it is so easy to be consumed by the gossip and negativity. even these last couple of weeks, i've spent more time tearing down my coworkers and picking out their faults and weaknesses than i have building them up and complimenting their strengths...the thought makes me sick. and i call myself a christ follower?? oy.

it took a wake up call from a kindergartener to realize how petty and selfish i'd become. it's time to accentuate the positive.