The secret in life is often found in how one handles situations that don't turn out well. I have a saying that my wife has heard me say often when things don't go the way I hoped or planned. I smile and tell her, "I am looking for the pony." The saying came from a story I came across years ago.
A set of identical twins were being studied for their behavior. One was
continually positive and joyful while his identical twin had been negative and
depressed from birth. The identical twins were placed in isolated environments
to study and find the reason for their opposite behavior. The negative and
depressed twin was placed in a new playground furnished with all the newest
toys and games on the market. The positive joyful twin was placed in an old
rundown barn with nothing but horse manure in empty stalls.
The negative and depressed twin sat motionless on the playground and never
played with the first toy. After several hours of no play the psychiatrists
went in and asked why he sat still for so long and never played with any tows.
He replied, “Well they were all new, I figured I might break something then
I would be blamed since I was the only one here so why bother.”
His positive brother meanwhile was being observed running wildly through the
barn from stall to stall, slipping on manure. It seemed that the more manure he
found the faster he ran and wider he smiled. The psychiatrists decided the twin
was showing signs of emotional disturbance so they went in and stopped his
frantic running from stall to stall. As he was grinning and covered in manure,
they asked him what he was doing and why he seemed to be having so much fun. He
smiled and said, “With this much manure there has got to be a pony somewhere
and I am going to find it!”
Moral of the story; Much of what we get out of life has to do with our
attitude. Many are surrounded by blessings yet they ignore them. There will
also be times when life will tumble in. It is always best to “Look for
the Pony!”
