Look for the Pony
There is no doubt that we are living in unprecedented times, at least as most of us can recall in our lifetimes. The emotions that we are experiencing are immeasurable and the uncertainty of what lay ahead daunting.
We’ve heard the old adages before…
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
“Problems are opportunities in work clothes.”
Or one of my favorites…
“There is light at the end of the tunnel…and it isn’t a train.”
The problem is that we have heard them so many times, they don’t do much for us and seem to flow in one ear and right out the other.
I work as a district manager for a take out fast food chain and while I am very thankful that I still have a job and our restaurants are open, it is still discouraging to see our sales drop so significantly. However, just yesterday I noticed that they were “down less” than they were the day before and I couldn’t help but be encouraged that in the midst of the stench of uncertainty I saw a glimmer of hope — I had found a pony.
Many years ago I was told a story I would never forget. I will do my best to try to put into words what I recall hearing.
There were two boys who were each placed in separate rooms. They would be observed by researchers to see how they would respond to what they discovered as they entered. One room was full of every toy imaginable. The other room was full of nothing more than horse manure and a shovel.
The research team was puzzled as they observed the reaction of the boy in the room full of toys. Upon entering he immediately began to pout and walk around as if he was quite angry. His displeasure led to great despair. One team member noted on the sheets of paper attached to his clipboard that there were tears in his eyes.
Upon entering the room they asked him, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you playing with all these toys?”
“What does it matter,” he replied, “They’re probably not even real, and if they are, they probably don’t have any batteries in them — or they’re broken — or we’ll get in trouble if we play with them.”
The young boy hung his head down and continued to sulk.
The researchers made their notations and walked over to the next observation window in order to see how the other boy was faring. They couldn’t believe their eyes.
There was such a cloud of manure flying about that they could barely see the faint silhouette of the lad. As they strained their eyes and looked more closely they saw the biggest smile on the boy’s face. He was laughing so loud they could hear him through the thick one way glass. His enthusiasm seemed to be fueled by an ecstatic anticipation that was puzzling.
As they entered the room they were hit with flying particles of manure which were frantically being tossed about. With the shovel in his hands and manure flying around it was as if the boy was having the time of his life.
“What are you doing,” they asked him, “What are you so excited about?”
“Are you kidding!” the boy exclaimed as he continued to shovel, “with this much manure around, there has got to be a pony in here somewhere!”
Things in our world “stink” right now. In many respects we are going to have to work harder than ever to recover, step out of our comfort zones and sweat it out working side by side to help each other. But it the end it will be well worth it as long as we keep shoveling with the confidence that in all of this there is a pony in here somewhere.
