I asked my husband to videotape me riding my horse Calvin the other day. We wanted to see how the camera worked, and Rex wanted to have some experience running it. I had never seen myself on tape, so in a brave moment I thought it would be fun to experiment.

Rex did great. I think he could be a cameraman in his next job life. The camera did great. We were really pleased at the quality of the images and the sensitivity of the mic, even recording Rex’s under-the-breath comments as he tried to remember which way to push the zoom button.

But seeing myself on tape wasn’t such a great experience — at first. I’m familiar with the see-the-negative-first pattern. I take a lot of photos of people and their horses. When I give someone what I think is a nice photo, he or she often groans. I’ve had to learn to not take that personally. I’ll have gone to a lot of effort to get the photo — spent time selecting it, have it printed, etc. The person means to be appreciative, but the “Thank you” is far overshadowed by comments about how their hair doesn’t look right or they don’t look slim enough. I’ve learned that unless it’s a glamour shot (not my specialty), seeing the negative first is a common response.

When my reaction followed that same pattern, I was surprised. I ran the same rabbit as everyone else does — noticing what I didn’t like. I’ve consulted with trainers long enough that I know anyone can see the negative, but it takes a good teacher to find the positive and know how to build on it. So when I got past the shock and awe, I started to see some things I liked.

My horse is very expressive. I’m used to his crabby look, often when other people ride him for the first time. He’s not really crabby, just concentrating or worrying, but it doesn’t look pleasant. By contrast, Calvin looked happy the whole video. Ears up, strides forward, easy change of directions when we did a serpentine, smooth transitions. That was super encouraging because I know him so well. The video tells me I’m not ready for prime time, and though I can see what I’d like to improve, some aspects of my riding were better than I anticipated. Seeing the whole picture gives me the encouragement I need to work on improving.

I thought of how easy it is to assume that God is like us, seeing the negative first. But that’s not what we see in the Bible history. I think He sees the whole picture at the same time, and encourages us to go on, to celebrate what is good and improve where improvement is needed.

I’m mentally videotaping other aspects of my life in hopes of catching myself doing something good so I can build on that and do better. What if you did that, too? What kind of lift would you get if you found yourself doing something well? It’s worth a try. You can always erase the tape.