I had an old friend ask me today "How is your life?" During the second my brain searched for the most correct answer, I thought how difficult it would be to answer that question correctly in the amount of time I had to answer it and to give an accurate picture of how my life is. I said "Fantastic!!" with gusto and then said "just kidding, I don't know." and laughed. "I don't know" was quite an honest answer seeing as sometimes life is just too busy to stop and take my own temperature accurately. As my brain scrolled through different answers I wondered how normal it is to have such varying answers be correct within the course of just one day. One hour. It is normal I decided. I am sticking with normal. Please tell me this is normal people. If you want the overall answer, which seems to be the best, Life is Good. I even own one of the t-shirts. :) If we sit and count our blessings, it would feel so ungrateful to say anything else. I am blessed. I am loved. I have what I need. I know why I am here. I am healthy. I love my family. Life is good.
Sometimes the correct answer is life is difficult. Far too difficult. Terribly Difficult. Difficult enough to make you want to sit and weep for awhile as you think about all of the trials large and small that fall on your shoulders. As you wonder how you are going to keep everyone and everything together. How you are going to turn your awesome but very much children, children into awesome independent adults who feel good about themselves, know why they are here, and that they are loved and blessed. Sometimes wondering, sometimes knowing at the end of each day that you could have done a little better somehow. And then realizing at the end of it all, they will still have their agency. I think it helps to know that life is not supposed to be easy, that we are not supposed to feel qualified for all of this. Who is qualified but the Creator of us all truly? We need Him. Sometimes it helps to think that HE thinks I am qualified or He would not have given me these things. I had a very wise woman tell me once that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers all of that as well. If I am doing my best, Heavenly Father will help make up the difference. I am not doing this alone. We are never alone as much as sometimes we would like to feel that we are. I know that is true.
Sometimes the correct answer is Life is full of Joy. So full of joy that you wish you had a pause button and could stay in the same time period for awhile. That you could keep your children the same age for a while longer. They do grow up too fast. So full of Joy that you feel the warmth of the sun inside your chest and it makes you so grateful. So very grateful to be here experiencing all of this. Learning all of this.
So, I am sticking with life is Good. :) If we can keep the big picture perspective, the why of our lives, I think we will make it. We were sent here to succeed after all. I'm going to try to make HIM proud.
I hope that answers the question. ;)