> Still, he now sees that it wasn’t so much the elevator that changed him as his reaction to it.

It's crazy how our interpretation of the events around us is even more potent than the event itself. Some people could have gone through this and it would have been a funny anecdote at office holiday parties, for others, complete life upheaval. (Not to diminish how terrible this must have been for Nick.)

But I'm reminded of this constantly now with a 5 month old baby. I'm exhausted. So much sleep deprivation. And the things that happen around me take a much different "color". I have to constantly keep asking: is this event occuring like I think it is, or is it simply my exhausted interpretation of it. And more often than not, it's the interpretation. When I finally get a nap in, things go back to looking just great.