Living in the desert

I watched some show this weekend, 20/20 or 60 minutes.  The show's focus was about teenagers that had been kicked out of their houses and were homeless to one degree or another.  It was sad really.  And it made me appreciate the life that I have and the opportunities that Dena and I are able to provide for our boys.

It struck me that what the teenagers on the show really wanted was to be acknowledged and loved by their parents.  These teenagers were willing to put up with a lot of trouble and inconveniences that weren't typical or normal.  I think we all want normal.  I think we all want to be loved.  And we often say that we want our lives to be trouble-free and easy.

But I am reminded of a saying that states that having all clear, sunny, beautiful days all the time will eventually create a desert.  Of course we all wish for easy, smooth, and trouble-free days, but obviously, that is not reality.  I think it may be that way by design.  If every single day of our lives was a happy, wonderful, sunny day, we soon take for granted that happiness and the baseline for our happiness and appreciation would move to a different level.

So how should we deal with the good days and the bad?  How do we cope when the sun isn't shining and our way isn't so clear?  I think one of the keys to making the most of our lives is to take all things, good and bad, and make a deliberate effort to decide that we are going to make the best of a particular situation.  By practicing this effort daily, we will find that situations become clearer to us and that even the bad days become bearable, even teaching us valuable lessons that we couldn't learn without them.

But given the choice today, I still think I will choose the bright sunny day!