Fill Up Your Cup

My dad's never been one to give me long lectures or life lessons.  I can think of one time when he punished me, he was mad about something I said at the dinner table that was impolite and hit me with his chopsticks in anger.  It didn't even hurt, it had just startled me a bit.  My mom has always been the discipliner.  So when my dad gave me some advice on cups, I took it to heart and I'm always thinking about it whenever I'm working hard at something.

He told me everyone has cups.  Some are larger, some are smaller - but we have cups for everything we can do in this life.  Some of our cups come already filled, some a bit, some halfway, some all the way - but whatever the size of our cup or how much it's filled, we can do our best to fill it to the brim.  With hard work, diligence, practice, and consistent effort, we can have every cup full.

I'm not good at cooking.  I'm not good at sewing.  I'm not good at make-up.  Yet within the last five years of marriage, I've cooked everyday, I've forced myself to sew some simple projects (mostly hemming curtains), and I've learned the power of a blending brush.  I'm always amazed at how one can improve over time with earnest and consistent practice.  It makes me wonder if that's what all the Tiger Moms were getting at when they made their kids do every single sport, go to tutors at a young age, and do instruments so young.  They must have thought if they capitalized on the amount of time input from a young age, their kids would be at an advantage.  I've found, however, without interest, the effort is useless.

Over the last three years, I've used Photoshop to make prints, flyers, invitations, posters, and party tags.  I've gone from a slow turtle crawl googling every question I have to a quick layering maniac.  When I look back at how far I've come in just a few years with my own self-taught Photoshop skills, I wonder what else I could be self-improving and learning.  And then I remember I have to be interested in it too, and genuinely put forth the dedication.  I may not be a successful Etsy entrepreneur or a design mom, but I'm a little further than I was three years ago.  My cup, as small as it may be, is on its way to being full.

Thanks dad.  What have you been doing lately to filling your cups?

Also, I've learned in the past few weeks that if I don't want to put make-up on but want to look good in photos, there is an app for that.