From the time I was a little kid, I was impressed with the fact that “it’s not the set of circumstance in which you find yourself, but the way you respond to those circumstances that makes all the difference in the world.”
Our dad used to tell his three young boys while they were growing up that it was really OK if they weren’t satisfied with their circumstances. But just because you aren’t satisfied doesn’t give you the right to whine, be mean, be angry, or rebellious. You can start changing your circumstances by changing your attitude. Figure out what it is that you would like to be different and then start working to change it.
If the coach isn’t letting you play in the starting line-up on your Little League team because you keep striking out when it’s your turn at bat – don’t get mad at the coach and throw your glove on the ground. Start working on your hitting skills. Get one of your brothers to pitch some balls to you -- learn to keep your eye on the ball and swing properly! Then your whole set of baseball circumstances will change.
The successful people I have bumped into in my life are the people who get up in the morning looking for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, they make them.
It is strange that I would now recall a cute story our dad used to tell us about changing our circumstances by changing our attitudes and actions. Let me see if I can remember enough of the story to share it here with you. It had to do with two mice: Sebastian and Carl.
The farmer’s wife’s name was Mable Glover. They lived out on a farm just south of town. Mable had skimmed the nice thick cream off the top of the cans of milk produced from the morning and evening milkings. Mable took the collected thick cream and put it into a large crock and placed it in her pantry located just off the kitchen. She decided that she would leave the cream in the crock until morning and then take it to the kitchen and begin the churning process to make it into butter.
Sometime during the night, the two mice, Sebastian and Carl, decided to make a quick run through Mable Glover’s kitchen pantry, just to see if she had inadvertently left some morsels of food uncovered or unprotected. Sebastian was the first to catch the scent of the fresh cream. Together, they made a dash for the second level shelf. It was an easy leap from the jar of big pickles to the top rim of the crock of cream. Oh, what a special delight this was going to be!
The two mice mischievously looked at each other and then gave a wink. They leaned forward just far enough to wet the ends of their long whiskers in the beckoning fresh cream. Oooops! They hadn’t counted on the top edge of the crock still being moist with Mable’s prize cream. At exactly the same time, Sebastian and Carl lost their footing -- gravity did the rest.
Down they plunged head first into the crock of cream. Their whiskers were drooping with the heavy cream, their eyes were glazed, and their natty coats were heavily soaked. Not a good set of circumstances at all!
Sebastian started coughing, and sputtering. He hadn’t bargained for all of this. He swam to the edge of the tall crock. The walls were way too slippery for climbing out. He looked pathetically over at Carl, gave a strange “glug, glug” sound, sputtered three more times and down he went --to the bottom of the crock!
Carl was no less horrified by the newly presented set of circumstances than was Sebastian. But something happened deep down inside of Carl. He decided that he was not simply going to go “glug, glug” and dive for the bottom. “I have a set of four wonderful paddles – one on the end of each of my strong legs. I will not stop. I will keep swimming, I will keep turning, I will keep churning until I change these dastardly circumstances!”
The night wore on – eventually, Carl heard the crowing of the old barnyard rooster. With strengthened resolve Carl paddled on, more determined than ever.
A little past sunrise, Mable Glover began scurrying around in the farmhouse kitchen. At the top of her list of morning chores was fetching her fresh cream and getting on with her butter-churning activities before breakfast.
When she opened the old door into the pantry, she jumped back with startled amazement. Her eyes were certainly playing tricks on her. That could not be real . . . it could just not be real!
There on the second level shelf was her crock she used for her cream. But there was no longer a crock full of fresh cream – but a mouse – “Courageous Carl the Mouse” skimming along, whiskers slicked, shiny and clean – one front leg raised in triumph – making a victory lap around the outer edge of the crock – on his freshly churned Butter Boat.
Now that’s called changing your attitude and changing your circumstances!
I would venture to guess that in this coming week, you will be presented with at least three situations where you are confronted with circumstances not of your choosing. Are you willing to endure the discomfort or inconvenience of change in order to experience a better future?
I challenge you to be that person who looks through, to the other side of your disagreeable circumstance, with determination and hope, and that you will be that person who visualizes through the eyes of faith, the possibilities of a new and better life. Remember during this week that hope, dedication, tenacity, resolve, and grit are functions that carry untold tons of raw energy. And that energy is almost always strongest in circumstances that range from difficult to impossible.
“It’s not the set of circumstances in which you find yourself but the way you respond to those circumstance that makes all the difference in the world.”