It's funny, I hate to shop and I never like buying things for myself, but when it comes to buying presents for others, especially my children, I am a compulsive buyer. We walked by a store with colorful candy dishes on display. There were adorable apple shaped containers. I looked at them; I looked at my children. Within minutes we had bought them and were talking about how we would fill them up with raisins and nuts.

Less than twenty-four hours later one of my children had already broken the apple's top. It was broken in such a way that I knew I couldn't fix it or glue it back together.

He chose to see what he had My son, Avraham Nissim, spotted the apple container and picked up the broken top in his hand. "What happened?" he asked. "It broke," I answered as I braced myself for his reaction.

"Now we can put a spoon in it and use it for honey!" he exclaimed.

"May you always be blessed to see the world with those eyes," I praised him as I hugged him and gave him a kiss. The choice was his; he could have seen the broken top, focused on what was lacking and become angry, but instead he chose to see what he had in his hand, what was there and not what was missing.

In the text of the Ethics of Our Fathers the Sages state that those who have a good eye, a humble spirit and an undemanding soul are the disciples of our forefather Abraham. Abraham is the symbol of chesed, kindness. He was the man who waited in the sweltering heat for guests to arrive just three days after his own circumcision—despite his physical discomfort and advanced age. He is also the one to whom G‑d told, "I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you…and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you," (Genesis 12:2-3).

G‑d gave our forefather Abraham the power to bless. The key to making oneself a recipient for blessing, or bounty, our Sages tells us is, "a good eye, a humble spirit, and an undemanding soul."

I felt a moment of panicG‑d came to Abraham and told him that He was going to turn him into a great nation. At this point Abraham didn't even have a child, let alone a nation! G‑d told him to step outside and see beyond the stars. He told them that he, in other words the Nation of Israel, had access to a reality that was beyond nature. Abraham, with his good eye and humble spirit, believed in G‑d. He didn't dwell or focus on what he didn't have; he looked ahead to the future and only saw the potential—not just what was but what could be.

I just received our monthly credit card bill. On it was a month's worth of food shopping, as well as my utilities and phone bills. I looked at it. There were no luxuries; everything for me was a bare necessity. I gasped when I saw the total. How are we going to make it? I felt a moment of panic. This was the perfect moment to start thinking about everything that we "don't" have, "we don't have enough money, we don't have extra savings, I can't get a better job if I want to be at home for my children, I don't have, we don't have, I don't have."

I stopped myself.

"I have a family, I have a job, I have food in the refrigerator, my children are healthy, I have peace in my home. I have, I have, I have; most importantly I have G‑d and He always takes care of me."

Half-empty or half-full depends on perspective The same glass is either half-empty or half-full depending upon the perspective of the eye. As long as the soul is housed within the body there always exists the "what is" even when it appears that all that there is, is nothing. My grandfather would say that money comes and money goes. The one who is on top finds himself on the bottom and the one on the bottom finds himself on top.

The Talmud describes how Rav Chanina ben Dosa's daughter mistakenly filled the small oil lamps used for Shabbat candles with vinegar instead of oil. She realized her mistake too late to fill them with oil in time to light the candles for Shabbat. Rav ben Dosa told her to light the wicks which were sitting in the vinegar. The same G‑d who made it so that oil can light can make it so that vinegar can light, he told his daughter.

What is the message for us? We should always look at what we have and whatever it is, with the right perspective, it can be seen as a potential blessing.