I once heard a story that illustrates the power of a proper perspective.
The story goes that a young married couple was blessed by
the birth of identical twin boys.
As time went on, it became apparent that although the boys appeared nearly exactly alike on the outside, their perspective on life was as different as night and day.
The one son was a supreme optimist, always choosing to look at the glass as half full, while the other found the negative aspect in every situation.
After consulting an expert on child behavior, they decided to try a form of shock therapy in order to
balance the children’s' outlook on life. The twins' birthday was coming up and the parents had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try their experiment.
They planned on giving their negative son his own pony, thinking that in doing this, they would be giving something so grand that he would have no choice but to be more positive.
They planned on giving their positive son a very large pile of horse manure, thinking that in doing this, they would be giving something so awful that he would have no choice but to think more negative.
The twins would be shown their gifts separately after the party, so that they would not be able to see what the other received.
Things did not go as planned....
When the negative child opened his eyes to see the pony, instead of being excited and happy as his parents had anticipated, he immediately began complaining.
"I really didn't want a pony, because you know there is going to be manure everywhere and we'll always be cleaning it up...." and on and on he went.
When the positive child opened his eyes to see the large pile of horse manure in front of him, his face lit up and he immediately began to run round and round the pile. After one or two laps, he was not satisfied and grabbed a shovel and began to dig into the manure in front of him, throwing each shovel full behind him as he went. His parents were very confused and asked what he was doing.
He replied, "Why, can't you see?! With all this manure, there HAS to be a pony in there somewhere!"
The story illustrates a simple truth. While there are things that we cannot control in our lives, our general acceptance or resentment of them will usually not depend on the circumstances themselves, but rather the perspective with which we choose to view them. The same is true with life in general.
There are those who will always see the glass as being half full, while others see it as being half empty, but the amount of liquid in the glass is the same. It is only the perspective of the viewer that decides which it is. We will see what we seek.
Our limitations define us and our perspective will many times, define our limitations.
If we can learn to manage how we view things in our perspective, we can change how we deal with them and how we are affected by those things of which we have no control.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
As time went on, it became apparent that although the boys appeared nearly exactly alike on the outside, their perspective on life was as different as night and day.
The one son was a supreme optimist, always choosing to look at the glass as half full, while the other found the negative aspect in every situation.
After consulting an expert on child behavior, they decided to try a form of shock therapy in order to
balance the children’s' outlook on life. The twins' birthday was coming up and the parents had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try their experiment.
They planned on giving their negative son his own pony, thinking that in doing this, they would be giving something so grand that he would have no choice but to be more positive.
They planned on giving their positive son a very large pile of horse manure, thinking that in doing this, they would be giving something so awful that he would have no choice but to think more negative.
The twins would be shown their gifts separately after the party, so that they would not be able to see what the other received.
Things did not go as planned....
When the negative child opened his eyes to see the pony, instead of being excited and happy as his parents had anticipated, he immediately began complaining.
"I really didn't want a pony, because you know there is going to be manure everywhere and we'll always be cleaning it up...." and on and on he went.
When the positive child opened his eyes to see the large pile of horse manure in front of him, his face lit up and he immediately began to run round and round the pile. After one or two laps, he was not satisfied and grabbed a shovel and began to dig into the manure in front of him, throwing each shovel full behind him as he went. His parents were very confused and asked what he was doing.
He replied, "Why, can't you see?! With all this manure, there HAS to be a pony in there somewhere!"
The story illustrates a simple truth. While there are things that we cannot control in our lives, our general acceptance or resentment of them will usually not depend on the circumstances themselves, but rather the perspective with which we choose to view them. The same is true with life in general.
There are those who will always see the glass as being half full, while others see it as being half empty, but the amount of liquid in the glass is the same. It is only the perspective of the viewer that decides which it is. We will see what we seek.
Our limitations define us and our perspective will many times, define our limitations.
If we can learn to manage how we view things in our perspective, we can change how we deal with them and how we are affected by those things of which we have no control.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
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