The Glass is Half Full - Always!

I started decorating for Christmas yesterday and had many up and down moments.  This is the first time I have decorated with no kids home.  I started to feel bad about that but then I realized that I can take my time because no one is bringing people over to stumble over my piles of stuff.  I also don't have to put up and stock with candy the many advent calendars I have collected over the years.  That made me sad at first but then I decided to do one for my daughter and her roommate and take it up to her when we go to the next game.  That got me thinking about the advantages of not having kids home over having them here since I can't very well bring them all back.  I hate to cook and I felt obligated to make dinners most nights when the kids were here.  Me and Pat eat very little now that we are getting older and it's super easy to just fix something for me and him real fast without doing a ton of planning and shopping.  We went to Julian the other day and it was so weird to realize that we didn't have to hurry home for anything or anyone.  I've always had an obsession with being home when my kids are home.  That limited me to only a few hours while they were at school to go and do things.  Now Pat and I can come and go as we please.  I have been very lucky in my life in that I have always been able to recognize, very quickly, what I can change and what I have no control over.  This tends to bring about the "glass half full" theory.  I tend not to worry (or at least not for very long) about stuff or people that I can't change.  Plus, I really hate being unhappy so my mind just naturally gravitates to the good in my life.  In scripture study the other night Pat and I were discussing the two completely different views of Nephi and his brothers, Laman and Lemuel of their journey through the wilderness.  They were in the exact same "car" so to speak, going on the exact same trip with the exact same circumstances and yet they saw the experience completely differently.  Nephi was super thankful that they got away safely and that they always had enough food to eat on the journey and that they were protected.  The brothers said that it was super hard and that their wives suffered mightily and that it was a horrible burden and hardship to do this thing.  Remember, same trip, same circumstances.  Who would you rather be?  We all are given a certain amount of time on this earth with certain blessings and challenges and with the opportunity to get help to make it through this journey.  Would we rather trudge through this experience seeing the glass half empty all the time and being miserable or would we rather change what we can, accept what we can't and strive to know the difference and then live a happy and fulfilling life?  For me, I'll drink my "half full" glass and savor every drop:)