Recently my three-year-old grandson Bruce was helping me load some wood onto a pile. While holding above his head a log about three inches in diameter and weighing several pounds, he declared, “I am strong.” He was so proud of himself and obviously having fun.
What Bruce said was true—he is strong for his age—but he left out the other things he might have said that also would have been true:
“I’m only two and a half feet tall.”
“People tell me what to do all day.”
“Sometimes I wet the bed.”
“My vocabulary and clarity of speech are somewhat limited.”
I believe we’d all be happier if we were more like this three-year-old. We all have gifts that are both beautiful and useful. Remembering those—and focusing on developing them—is far more useful than fussing about our mistakes and shortcomings.
