Looking for Ponies
I was recently at the beach with friends on a mini-vacation. The day we arrived was a bit cloudy and threatening to rain, so we were ducking into shops here and there. Out of the blue, one of the shop owners commented to my friend, “If you’re in a barn full of manure, there is always a pony. Find it.” Apparently that was his version of “if life gives you lemons, make lemonade” or “see the glass as half full rather than half empty”. The shop owner was making a point, of course, that if rain was threatening our vacation, we needed to find happiness in his shop. I passed it off as just another one of those irritating optimistic taglines. But it stuck with me. In my mind, I’m a very down-to-earth, realistic person. You know, "balanced". I guess we all like to think of ourselves as that. However, when I started dating Vince, he was quick to point out that I fall on the pessimistic side of the spectrum. I still want to deny it, but I know it's got some truth to it. A few y...