Life Is Tough, But Also Wonderful

So it appears readership is slowing down, I guess my life is getting more normal and boring! Actually when I have something to write, it is often too difficult to deal with so I wait and then I forget about it. That is a sign of old age I guess!
It was really nice to have yet another stranger compliment me on my smile the other day, but even better was what took place last night. I was at the away football game for our high school and busy taking pictures on our OLD 35mm camera. One of the young men I know from school came over to talk to me. I seem to run into a lot of school kids around town so it is fun when they aren't embarrassed to come talk to me in public. This young man who really doesn't know our family well, came over to tell me how beautiful Rachel's smile was! I was so happy to hear that because she has a beautiful smile and it always shows when she is "on stage." She is having a great time as a cheerleader and she is still keeping her grades and standards high.
I am so glad for my relationship with my children. We have a lot of love and respect for each other. Of course I think they are wonderful and the best kids ever, but they really have been a blessing in my life. They each have their strengths and their weaknesses. Although dealing with their weaknesses often seems overwhelming, I think recognizing their strengths can be equally as difficult. We try to teach our children to be humble and not boastful so recognizing a talent often seems difficult to them. To recognize a talent may seem boastful or vain, but we have all been blessed with talents and if we don't recognize what the Lord has blessed us with it seems disrespectful to Him. I guess the difficulty is to recognize our talents as a blessing and not as "look at me, I am great." Sometimes it is hard to receive a complement because of this. Sometimes we don't recognize a talent because it is not "perfect" yet. Talents need to be continually strengthened and developed so I believe we should not expect perfection and accept complements gracefully. As far as the weaknesses we all have, well I guess we have to "bear our burdens well for however long they last" (L. Whitney Clayton) Some weaknesses or burdens don't seem fair or we allow them to make us feel worthless. These things do give us experience and will help us learn empathy for others. Who knows why we have to suffer certain things, but we do, so we might as well learn from them and help make the world a better place. Easier said then done? Yes it is but hopefully we have lots of future time to work on things. It is all in how we look at things. Is your cup half empty or half full?