#11 Babies falling asleep on you

Does this really bear explanation?  I will have a limited number of children - maybe 3 - and they are young enough to fall asleep on my chest for a short period.  So this is something that comes in short supply, thus increasing the enjoyment factor.  Everyone older always says - 'drink it in, you never really appreciate it when they're this young.'  I'm always a little bit insulted...I am drinking it in, I fully enjoy and do appreciate it. I am very thankful for my children and the moments I get with them, and I am thankful on a daily basis.  Perhaps those people were busier than I am right now.
Other people's babies falling asleep on you...nice, but not awesome.  Unless you are a single guy looking to impress some girl.  Even then, still not really as awesome.  

#10 Disappointment

There is a silver lining in every cloud, they say.  While despair is the unbearable absence of hope, disappointment is hope's much maligned partner.  Disappointment reveals our nature, our expectations, and our capacity for hope.  Each time a person leaves me dejected, I betray the love I have for them.  Behind every underachieving and underwhelming teenager is a hopeful and unreasonably loving parent (and teacher).
Logically, it seems flawed to continue to hope when life so reliably disappoints.  But seeing silver in the cloud is more than feckless naivety.  My faith teaches me to see the plan behind the cloud (the climate behind the weather, so to speak).  This is not only my story.  This is the story of all humanity.  Seeing a final hope to which all our unmet potential is striving elevates optimism to more than a salvo.
Hope does help us get through the day.  It is a crutch.  And that is one half of its purpose, unapologetically.  But hope is more far-sighted than that and disappointment is our constant reminder of the ability to acknowledge, grieve over, but ultimately see beyond the present circumstance.