Making the Most Out of a Situation

I received an email this morning with a story that made me laugh.

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Crate of Chickens

The farmer's son was returning from the market with a crate of chickens his father had entrusted to him, when all of a sudden the box fell and broke open.

Chickens scurried off in different directions, but the determined boy walked all over the neighborhood scooping up the wayward birds and returning them to the repaired crate.  Hoping he had found them all, the boy reluctantly returned home, expecting the worst.

"Pa, the chickens got loose," the boy confessed sadly, "but I managed to find all twelve of them."

"Well, you done a good job, son," the farmer beamed.

"You left with seven."

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When bad news comes our way, when a decision doesn’t turn in our favor or when someone tells us something we don’t like to hear, do we lament the bad news, feel diminished in some way, get angry with the person who has delivered the news or feel defeated?

Or do we make the most of what we have in hand, not realizing that the event (and the results of our actions in response) may be much more positive than we realize at the moment?

How we choose to respond determines the impact of the event and the nature of the result.

Let’s not assume the worst in a situation.

A situation oftentimes is not good or bad.

It’s just an event.

If we work hard and give the event and our response a chance to blossom, we determine if the event is a good one or a bad one and therefore determine if our future is a bright one or not.

What kind of future to you wish for?

Do you prefer to just allow that future to happen by accident?

Do you prefer to leave that future to someone else to manifest for you (as they see fit)?

Or do you choose to fight for what you believe, asserting that you have some say in the future that you wish to create?

After all, it’s all up to you, regardless of what you are facing today.

And all too often, many of us are too quick to judge an event, a situation or a person before the beauty and the positive aspects have been given a chance to develop and blossom.

You probably have more “chickens in the crate” than you realize.

But you won’t know this if you spend your time worrying about what you lost or how you have been defeated.

You deserve better than this.

You are capable of much better than this.

But you have to demand better … of yourself first and then of others.

In that order.

In service and servanthood,

Harry

PS I wrote this with a group of people in mind today. You know who you are.