Finding your pony

I was given a dirty pot at work today.  A really, really burnt pan.  One that, just by looking at it, I knew would require elbow grease and scrubbing and, well, yuck.  Scrubbing a nasty pot was SO not my idea of a good time.

But that's my job, and so I got to work. I soaked and scrubbed, and rinsed.  The pot looked *no* better.  I applied the presoak that we use at work, let it sit for ten minutes, and tried again.  I made a bit of progress, but not enough.  Again with the presoak, again with the scraping - a bit more.  I broke a fingernail and my finger throbbed from burning it yesterday.  (Apparently, it's not a good idea, when holding a pan FRESH out of the oven - with a potholder - and you lose your grip, to grab said pan with your bare hand.)  Try again.

I was making some headway after I switched to a brillo pad, and then I looked up to see dishes piled every which way.  There were dishes on the back cart, trays stacked up on the counter, and the silverware bucket was overflowing.  I thought to myself, "Man, there must be a pony in here somewhere."

Allow me to explain.

I heard a priest give a talk, in fact, the talk I mentioned before on Family.  In it, he told this story.

There were two boys who were the subject of an experiment.  One was put into a room with every toy known to children.  The other boy was put into a room full of horse manure.  They were left alone for quite a while, and then the doctor conducting the experiment came to check on them.  He found the boy who was in the room of toys, sitting on the side, looking dejected.  When questioned, he said that the reason he was so upset was that there was no Nintendo DS in the room.  That was his favorite toy.  The doctor went to check on the second boy, and to his suprise, found him jumping around, dancing, singing, laughing and having a grand time.  When questioned as to how he could possibly be so happy in a room filled with horse manure, he responded, "With this much horse manure, there MUST be a pony in here somewhere!"

Try to find the pony in your day.  The pony in the dirty pot was that I have a job, that I am needed and valuable.  Maybe for scrubbing pans, but, there you go.

Where's the pony in your rough spots?

Comments

[Kristi]

Great point.

[Louisa]

kind of makes me wonder what was in the pot...

:)

[Paige]

That is a great story. Do you mind if I steal it? And I hope you got that pot cleaned eventually. Have a great day!

[Brandy]

Hmmm, I'll have to think on that.

[Jessica]

What a really great, inspirational story.
I just got to work and I was feeling dejected about the work looming ahead. Thank you for helping me to see the silver lining.

[Brenda]

Great story!

My pony is my family's love. No matter what we go through, we love each other.

[Amy]

What a great story! I know my youngest son would still be looking for the pony too~

[rachel]

I love that.

My pony is that even though I've been feeling wretched lately, I've been able to read a lot, and I'm working through my Spring Reading List. Plus, watching my kids use their imaginations when we're stuck in the house because of my pain is amazing.

Thanks for sharing this. It helped me a lot right now, I was feeling sorry for myself.

[Diane L Beatty]

There is a pony in everything - if you have enough faith to look for it. Wonderful story. I need to remember it when I'm elbow deep in dirty pots (or bad thoughts).