You Can Do Hard Things!

The greatest hoodwink of all time has to be almost 18 years ago when I somehow convinced Laura to marry me.  Fortunately for me two of her greatest characteristics are commitment and loyalty which have motivated her to try to make the best of that momentary lapse of judgement.  I am a much better person because of her example in my life.  When we started raising children almost 17 years ago I was overwhelmed.  I was sure that I had missed a required parenting class somewhere along the way.  (Kind of like the dream where you show up for a final exam in school and realize that you had forgotten to attend that class the whole semester.  I still have that dream to this day).  Laura, on the other hand, was completely unfazed by the transition.  It was so natural for her.  Maybe it is because she had already completed a year of raising the first child in our home...me. With Laura in my life I feel like I can survive the diverse hardships that life brings.  

I can remember on several occasions while visiting Grandma and Grandma Heika (Laura's parents) my young children would get discouraged trying to do something and bemoan, "It's too hard!"  I was touched as I observed the mother of my dear wife patiently approach the child and declare, "You can do hard things!  You have smart parts!".  Sure enough, with this new found confidence, my child would accomplish the task at hand. This quote has become a family favorite.  If anyone in the family is caught saying something like "it's hard", you can be sure that at least one other person (especially Lindsay) will quickly chime in with, "You can do hard things, because you have smart parts". 

It is amazing what we can accomplish when someone shows faith in us.  I am reminded of the quote "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be." (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe). I believe that is a true principle.  In our Marriage and Family class at church our instructor told us the story of a woman he knew in a previous ward that was an amazing cook.  Everyone wanted to attend parties at her house to sample some of her creations.  He asked the husband where she learned her culinary art.  He confessed that when they were first married she was a terrible cook.  In fact, the only thing she made that was edible was spaghetti.  So whenever they were around other people he made it a point to mention how well his wife cooked spaghetti.  These compliments gave her confidence and motivated her to continue to improve her cooking skill.  She learned to excel in something that was hard for her because her husband treated her like she already was a great chef. 

I need to do a better job of pointing at the positive in others and reminding them of how special they are.  There is good and bad in everyone (quote from Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson) and I just need to look past the bad and focus on the good.  Giddy Up, StevieG