I have always tried to have a philosophy of life that seeks
to look for the positive side of any event.
I probably inherited some of that from my parents. One cannot choose one’s parents but I was
blessed to have a mom & dad who grew up in difficult times and learned to
make the best of things. Life can be
difficult in this sin-scarred world.
Mankind ushered sin, disease, evil, destruction & decay into this
world with our decision to disobey God and try our own ideas. That is a sermon on original sin that will be
for another day. Today I want to focus
on turning things around in a world that can throw us a curve ball or a punch
in the gut without any warning, rhyme or reason.
Years ago I ran across a story that gave me my catch phrase
to help me make the most of the moment, no matter what came my way. The phrase that reminds me to make the best of a difficult situation is, “Look for the pony!” Now I know there are great Bible verses to
give the same result. I have preached, taught and memorized them for regular
use. However, this one has become a
favorite; perhaps because the story that leads to “Look for the pony!” usually
brings a smile to my face because it is slightly humorous and a little irreverent. For that reason I never shared it in a Bible
study or sermon. However, I am not
preaching or teaching even though I do think there is sound theology behind the
phrase.
The story goes like this; Once upon a time (that is not
really how it starts but you have to admit it is a good beginning for
stories). Behavior scientists have
always been fascinated with twins as study object for human behavior. A set of identical twins was selected for a
particular study because in spite of being identical twins their behavior and
attitude could not be more different. One
was always smiling and having fun. The
other was always sad, cross and grumpy.
The study consisted of taking the twin with the bad attitude and placing
him in an environment that should bring joy to any child. He was placed in a toy store and told he
could play with and have any and all the toys he wanted. The happy twin was placed in a dirty old
empty smelly barn in the middle of a pasture.
They would be observed and see how they responded to the environments
that differed from their normal personality.
Virtually any child placed in a toy store with permission to
play and keep any and all toys they desired would have a field day playing with
and enjoying the toys. However, the twin was observed simply sitting
with a dejected look in the midst of toy heaven. After much time passed with no change or
observed desire to move out of the dejected negative attitude and behavior the
child was asked, “Why didn’t you try to have fun and play with the toys?” He gloomily responded, “If I had played with any of the toys they would probably have broken or
something would have gone wrong so what’s the point?” The behavior scientists
concluded the results of the study on this child showed that environment is not
the key in changing a philosophy of life.
The observation on the happy child placed in the old empty
smelly barn in the middle of a pasture was quite different. This boy detected immediately that much of
the smell was from horse manure, a common odor in a barn. Instead of moving away from the unpleasant
element causing the foul smell he progressed toward the manure getting close
enough to slip causing his clothes to become stained with manure. This brought a bigger smile and a more rapid advance
toward larger piles. It seemed the more
manure he encountered the wider the smile became. Finally the experiment was halted as there
was concern that he had become emotionally unbalanced. What normal child finds increasing joy in
larger exposure to horse manure? When
asked if about his strange behavior he responded, “With this much manure there has got to be a pony close by. I am looking for the pony!”
The difference does not depend on the environment but on the
way you set your attitude. Life will
have its ups and downs. The difference
is the attitude we choose no matter the circumstance. So, no matter what you think of the story, as
the difficulties of life seem to pile up on you remember to; LOOK
FOR THE PONY!
