I read something once that said "We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirement of life, when all we really need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." Isn't that the truth? Winston Churchill described success as "going from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm." I love it.

I was reminded of that joke about the optimist and pessimist, where a couple of psychologists decided to perform an experiment on two little boys, one an eternal optimist and the other a perpetual pessimist.

They locked the pessimist in a room with every thing a boy could ever dream of owning. There was a real merry-go-round, an umpteen amount of popular video games, a live pony and all sorts of other toys to charm the daylights out of any little boy. Surprisingly, when they came to check on him in a hour, they found his dreary little self just sitting in a corner.

They were incredulous, "Why are you just sitting there??? Why aren't you playing with all the fun things we've provided for you?"

He answered dejectedly, "If I tried to ride the pony it would probably buck me off, if I rode the merry-go-round it would probably make me dizzy and the video games are too violent..."

They left him moping in the corner and went to check on the optimist. They had locked this little boy in a room full of nothing but manure. When they came to check on him, he appeared to be having the time of his life! He was diving in and out of the manure, happily flinging it about,  just having a walloping good time.

Again, they were absolutely incredulous, "What are you doing??? How could you be having so much fun in there?"

The happy little lad answered joyously, "I just figured with all this manure, there had to be a pony in here somewhere!"

Doesn't this illustrate Churchill's point exactly? We need to be enthusiastic about something, and as Christians we have something far greater than the prospect of a live pony to make all the "crap" worth wading through. We have the assurance of eternal life. We know that despite the wretches we are that we are loved unconditionally. We have God's Word to direct, comfort and empower us. We have brothers and sisters in Christ who are steady sources of love, encouragement and prayer. We have confidence that regardless of what tragedies come our way, God has a plan and a purpose, and that He doesn't waste any of our experiences.

Yet I still have days when all I can see is the manure. Days when I feel far from God, when I feel hopeless and inadequate. Days when I act just like that wretched little pessimist moping in the corner because I've let all the sad stuff blind me to all the really great stuff God has so lovingly provided.

Let's face it, crap happens...but thankfully God hasn't left us alone and He has a plan and a purpose for each of us. So...show some enthusiasm!