One of Jayden’s most recent favorite things to do is to style Daddy’s hair. She gathers up all her bows and clips and goes straight to Daddy. He fixes her hair and he lets her fix his. She has the cutest giggle when she looks at Daddy with pigtails and pink bows! As silly as it is, it’s a special time they share that has given us some of the sweetest memories.
Jayden decided it would be a fun idea to do this to our cat, Meeka, one day. She got her headbands, put some in her hair then sat one, complete with a bow on top, on the cat. Most normal cats would run…ours did not. He just put his ears back and let her do what she pleased. Then Peyton got in on the fun! They got brushes and bows and Meeka ended up with a bow in each ear, now being held against his will! He tried to escape but it wasn’t very long before he gave up and the fun continued (for the kids). I snapped a few pictures, took off his bows, and let him out of Peyton’s grasp!
After seeing some pictures a friend of mine said “Randy enjoyed it but it looks like the cat was just tolerating it!”. This thought made me laugh but it stuck with me. I began to wonder what things in my life was I enjoying and what was I tolerating? To enjoy means to take pleasure in; to tolerate means to put up with. Clearly two different things. Our kids, our jobs, trials we face, times of celebration and times of sadness. Every situation we find ourselves in brings us to a choice. A decision that we’re going to enjoy it - learn everything we can, capture the moment, laugh, cry, LIVE in the moment. Or else a decision that we’re simply going to tolerate it - put up with it, wait for the moment to pass, put up walls, cower in fear.
I think of times when my kids are trying every ounce of my patience whether it’s with tears, whining, tantrums etc. One thing I try to do in those moments is this - step back and know that one day, when the kids are grown, I will greatly miss all of these moments, good and bad, giggles and fits so right now I need to not take them for granted. This trick doesn’t always work, because sometimes I think to myself “No…I will not miss this!”, but most of the time it does and I realize they’re simply babies growing, learning how they feel, clueless to how to navigate through life, needing guidance and love.
I also think of trials we face, no matter of what sort. One thing I have learned is this - every trial brings an opportunity to help us grow IF we allow it to.
There are just too many things to be mentioned but I hope you think about this. I know it’s changed my perspective and I pray it does yours. I will leave you with these synonyms:
Enjoying: adore, appreciate, be entertained, be pleased, delight in, get a kick out of, go, have a ball, have a good time, have fun, like, live a little, live it up, love, rejoice in, relish, savor, take joy in
Tolerate: accept, bear with, blink at, go along with, live with, permit, put up with, sit and take it, sit still for, string along, submit to
Are you enjoying the things in your life or are you simply tolerating them?
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