Previously posted in August 2006
I just listened to an amazing talk by Danny Ainge. It was entitled "No Whining". He told the best story, one that I’ve heard many times over the years, but one well worth repeating. Two brothers were completely opposite. One was always as happy as could be. The other was just ornery and whiney no matter what. They had no clue what made either of the boys tick, so they decided to try an experiment. The cranky boy was placed in a room for three days with every toy under the sun, nothing but the best. The happy boy was placed in a room that was filled with manure. Three days later, they checked on the boys and there sat the cranky one. He was pouting and angry. When asked what was wrong, how could he be happy in a room that had every child’s dream, he responded, "I wanted a blue truck, not a red one." They then went into the room filled with manure. There in the midst of the mess was this little boy, just as happy as could be, tossing manure everywhere and having a merry good time. They asked him how he could be so happy in nothing but a room full of manure. "Are you kidding!?", he replied. "With all this manure, there has to be a pony in here somewhere!"
This story always makes me grin! I want to be the little boy in the room full of manure! I thought that I’d make a short list today of my own manure piles and the ponies that I’ve found.
- My parents divorces and marriages were reason for me to want to have a long and enduring happy marriage. So far, so good.
- Having a drug and alcohol addicted father has kept me far away from the those habits and the problems and challenges that go along with.
- Not having a father in the home most of the time and having mom who worked long hours to support us makes me want to be closer to home in body and spirit for my own children. (And it makes me appreciate having my father in my life so much today!!!)
- Being short (5'3") means that I don’t have to put away the dishes on the top shelf and most of the time, I get to stand in front so that I can see.
- I can’t sing in the choir (or anywhere else for that matter) but I get to sit in the choir and enjoy the music!
- My body is never going to be that hot little thing it was when I was in high school, but there’s more of me to love!
- Moving thirty-some times in my life has blessed with many friends all over the country.
- Having only one brother has allowed me to create friendships that are as important as family.
- Being soooooo old that I now to have to wear glasses but I get to wear all sorts of cute little glasses and look smart. (I’ve always thought that people wearing glasses looked smart!)
- Having very little knowledge of my own grandparents has inspired me to be a great record keeper for my future posterity.
- I’m ditzy as can be but it’s given me a cause to become organized so that I don’t lose my head.
- I have sleep apnea and may look like Darth Vadar in my C-Pap mask, but I sleep better than I've ever slept in my life and feel like a million bucks when I wake up! It also allows me to laugh at the teasing comments made by Doug and friends. The other night, I was reading in bed with my mask on. Doug rolled over and said to me, in his Darth Vadar voice, "Luke, I am your mother." (Thankfully, that is no longer an issue in my life!)
- My daughter’s poor choices and life style has pained me to the nth degree but has blessed me with three more beautiful children to love and keep me young.
I’m sure that there’s plenty more that I could find to add to my whine list. We all could sit around whining, moping and wallowing in the ugly things in life, but it’s so much more fun to bask in how those awful things have blessed us! The only way that we can lose in this life is to quit! Live it to the fullest, no matter what the circumstances! Enough said.
Instead of complaining that the rosebush is full of thorns, be happy that the thorn bush has roses.
Comments