Peter Thomson reveals the attitude it takes to find the good in every situation.
As a father of four sons I’ve been lucky in my life to have the opportunity to share one of life’s key lessons with all of my boys.
That lesson – is that there is always something good to be taken from every situation – if we look hard enough or deep enough.
The last time the opportunity arose was when my youngest son, David, was just 7 years old. I was taking him to school on a day when the weather was dark and dreary. David turned to me and said “Miserable day Dad huh?”
This was the day I’d been waiting for to share this life lesson with him. Turning to him I asked, “Miserable day huh? – David, what’s your favourite food?” “Burgers!” was the immediate reply.
“OK, David and where do you get burgers?” “MacDonald’s” It just goes to show how powerful advertising is – doesn’t it?
“No David, which animal?” Answer: “Cows”
“And what do cows eat?” – “Grass”
“Absolutely, and apart from the sunshine what’s needed to make the grass grow so that the cows grow so that you can have burgers?”
The light went on his face – “Rain!”
“Yes – David that’s right – when it rains you get more burgers!”
I think that is such an important lesson for everyone to learn – not just children. What positive lesson or idea can we take from every experience in life? Invariably there’s something good if we just look deep enough.
When things go wrong, as they inevitably do for you and I as people who take actions to succeed, then it’s finding the good in every situation that sets us apart from those whose attitude – is moan, groan and whinge.
Every cloud has a silver lining – and every rainstorm means more burgers!