POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

A positive attitude is all we need. There are ample opportunities to go negative. Cancer strikes. Your loved one disappoints. Your dog chews up the new "shew." Your creativty wanes. Your income drops. Your expenses skyrocket. Opportunity stops knocking. Book sales slow to a crawl. You get the idea. Bottom line? If you somehow manage to find a way to choose a positive mental attitude about the disappointments in life, every disappointment can be some type of blessing.

There was this little boy who wanted a pony. All he talked about was his pony. He had pictures of his pony. He checked out library books about ponies. PONY, PONY, PONY, was his mantra. Unfortunately, he lived in a small New York City apartment and his parents knew there was not going to be a pony in his future.

They took the boy to a psychiatrist who tried to talk the boy out of wanting a pony. Didn't work. PONY, PONY, PONY, was all the boy talked and dreamed about. The shrink offered an alternative plan.

"Let us gather up all the horse manure from the carriage horses in the city and fill the boy's room with horse poop. Surely that will discourage his compulsive desire to have a pony."

The parents agreed and the day the boy came home from school to find his room filled with horse poop, he tore off his jacket and dove into the mess wildly throwing the stinky matter all around.

The amazed parents asked, "Why are you so thrilled with horse manure?"

With all this horse poop around, there's got to be a pony in here somewhere!" the boy exclaimed.

Now, that's a positive mental attitude.

God grant me the courage to be as brave as that little boy.