Blessed by my burdens and burdened by my blessings

Sometimes I have those days when the sound of my own children chattering, bickering, arguing, negotiating, debating, whining over every god. damn. thing. makes my skin crawl.

But, I'm only too aware that I'm actually blessed with all the riches in the world.

So I'm not saying my kids don't drive me nuts. They do. I'm not saying I don't have crap-tastic days when the work is too much, the mess too high, the noise too loud, and the demands too much.

I'm just also crystal clear that my burdens are in fact my greatest blessings.

So when crap starts to hit the fan, I like to think like this:

My kids have a toy to fight over
My kids have air conditioning to let out the door
My kids have food to refuse to eat
My kids have band-aids to put on their imaginary (and real) boo-boo's
My kids are driving me nuts, not someone else
My kids have beds to refuse sleep in
My kids have shoes they refuse to put on their feet
My kids have brushes they refuse to apply to their teeth

So yeah. Sometimes I lose my mind. And my blessings are burdens and my burdens are blessings.

I used to think I was aiming for a time when I'd never be stressed or burdened. But I think better is finding a way to see the blessings within the burdens.

It's easy to see our burdens, but happier to see our blessings.