Finding The Pony There is a very old joke about two young brothers. One was an optimist and one was a pessimist. As a test, they were each told they had received a gift and then were put in a room with a huge pile of horse droppings. The pessimist was, understandably, disgusted. When the researchers went into the room with the optimistic child, they found him happily digging in the horse dung, exclaiming, 揑 know there抯 a pony in here somewhere!?
A poor joke perhaps, but an excellent life lesson. How our lives unfold is largely dependant on how we approach challenges that present themselves.
Adversity is a fact of life. How you view adversity dictates your reality. If you are always looking at the down side of life, that is what you are going to get. If each challenge throws you for a loop, it is going to be difficult for you to get anywhere. Understandably, some challenges are bigger than others and take more work to deal with. However, you can overcome them if you begin to see them as challenges to be worked out rather than walls that are insurmountable.
We all know what it is like to be around a person who is always in crisis, who is always in a mess. This type of person may thrive on chaos, but they are also negative people who only see the negatives around them. They can and will suck up your energy and just want more. Pessimism is like a virus, it jumps from person to person, through direct contact. The more you are around it, the worse you feel.
It really is just as easy to be optimistic. In fact, it may be easier to see the good in life and the challenges in adversity. Being happy takes less energy.
Even if you believe in Reincarnation, this is the only life you are going to get this time around. Why not be the type of person who looks for the pony?
See Also:
Down On Your Luck? Here's How You Get Over The Hump!
by Sibyl McLendon