Two nine year old, paternal-twin brothers, Bob and John, looked almost the same, but they were very different. Bob was always optimistic and plowed head-long into life with a smile, while John was a born pessimist, constantly suspicious and overly careful. Their father was deeply concerned that his boys would suffer in life due to their ways and he felt that something had to be done to change things.
The twins' birthday was approaching and the dad, being a sensible and practical man, decided to use this special occasion to give his boys a lesson – one that he was sure would cure them of their extreme attitudes and prepare them for the realities of life. He kept his plan a secret – success depended on it being a big surprise. On their 10th birthday, the twins were led by their father to the back of their large house where there were two locked doors each leading into a large unused room at the back of the house the house. The father explained that their birthday presents were behind these doors – the room on the right was for John the pessimist and inside the room on the left was the gift for Bob the optimist. The father handed each twin a key, and Bob and John rushed into their birthday rooms slamming the doors.
Their dad waited about 15 minutes, then decided to look in on the boys to see how his plan had worked out. He entered the room on the right with John the pessimist and found his son standing in the middle of what can only be described as a "boy's dream come true". The room was filled with the most fantastic things that money could buy for a 10 year old boy – skateboard, bikes, laptop, iPad, smartphone, scooter, games, films, and much more almost filling the room. But John stood in the middle of all this with his hands on his hips and a very suspicious look on his face. When his father asked what was wrong, John complained, "I can't figure it out! Why did you do this? What's the catch?" The dad just shook his head and sadly closed the door.
Next he went to the door of the room with Bob the optimist. He had to push hard to open it and when he looked inside he could not believe his eyes. The room was filled, waist deep at the walls and rising to a mound in the center with a mountain of smelly, gooey horse shit. Bob was on the top of the muck knee deep in shit madly digging away with a shovel and tossing loads of the stuff over his shoulder with a wide-eyed, excited look on his face. His father yelled out, "Bob, what the heck are you doing?" Without turning from his work, Bob shouted back, "I figured with all this horse shit there’s gotta be a pony around here somewhere!"
Some folks roll down’s life’s highway without a care, while others crash down a rocky path of misery and trouble. Some say life is a process, some say its a test, others claim its just a big lottery and, in the end, we all run out of road. But how we see and deal with what life throws at us makes a big difference in how much we enjoy the ride.
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