Make One Change and Find Treasure in the Pile of Manure

You may recall that in one of my earlier Nuggets, I mentioned the story of young twin brothers who were placed in a room. The intent was to observe how each responded to his current environment. The room of one brother contained every desired toy a young boy might enjoy, e.g., video games, action figures, miniature tablets, etc. During his time spent in the room, he avoided handling or playing with any of the toys or games for fear of breaking one.

Ten minutes later, his brother was placed alone in the same room except for one difference--his room contained only a pile of “sterilized” manure. After a few seconds, the young boy reacted by jumping into the mess with both feet and began digging. When his ten minutes room-experience was finished, he responded to the adult question of why he was digging. With child-like faith, he replied, “With all that manure, there had to be a pony in there somewhere!”

The current world situation may look like a pile of manure. But if you know anything about the smelly animal waste (unsterilized), you know it’s used as a fertilizer in producing some of the foods we eat. It adds nutrients to the soil and produces a type of food (fungi and bacteria) that creates a chain of life. Like the little boy, having faith to believe something good is in something dirty will guide us in a change in our attitude toward the present, unexpected happening.

When his enemies surrounded the prophet Elisha, his servant was afraid they were going to die. But Elisha, with great confidence, responded, “Have no fear. There are more on our side than on theirs.” (2 Kings 6:15-16) Not only didn’t they die, but due to the miraculous intervention of God, his enemies never attacked him or Israel again.

I read that someone recently made the statement, “I want my life back.” But in case they have not noticed, they still have their life. They were able to make this statement, stand under their own strength, were not in a hospital, and were able to move around with no assistance, and more. It is time to move on.

Consider how many people who, even when the situation returns to “normal,” will never have the opportunity to take pleasure in the freedom many of us take for granted. Even though you may have to make alterations in the directions for your life journey, keep moving forward rather than trying to get it back.
 
Having taken care of at least three critically ill persons, I know there would not have been the slightest hesitation from any one of them if they had an opportunity to reverse their medical situation and return to a quality of life that contained a temporary manure pasture.

The technology of today is amazing!  We all have been blessed by it, even though we may not all have had the opportunity to participate in virtual events. Our students will continue their education, and some of us will keep our jobs by working at home. We can shop and purchase almost anything online, talk to people living thousands of miles away and to friends or family who may be in nursing care homes or other medical facilities by video. We keep our faith strong through video streamed church services.

Permit me to share a couple of thoughts for changing your attitude about the current situation:

• Stir up your faith (trust); don’t focus on the circumstances, look up, and pray.
• Discipline yourself to lessen daily news reports and other commentaries. Stay informed, but don’t raise your stress level by daily “news binging.” Everybody has an opinion, so slash your social media time.
• Expand your conversations beyond the current situation. Find a project. For example, throw away stuff you don’t need, build a new playhouse, clean out the garage, etc.
• Find things to laugh about like the stuff your kids do, the bloopers you make, or the cute antics of your dog or other pets.    

Your life (without your permission) has taken a different turn, and the circumstances may not instantly improve. But thank you for being who you are and for being here with me during this challenging event. Now is the time to take a bold step to change your attitude. I guarantee that step will change your life.

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