Find the Pony

Let me tell you a story.

It is not my story to tell but it’s so good, I often re-tell it. This story belongs to Paul House, former CEO and Chairman of Tim Hortons. It will forever be ingrained into my thought process, especially if I find myself dwelling on the negative.

Here’s the story as best I can recall.

There was a farmer who had two sons. He decided to test the integrity of each son. He put his two sons into two different stalls in the barn, filled with horse manure. After a few hours, he checked in with them. The first son was sitting in a corner, crying. The first son said, “Dad, why did you put me in a room with a pile of manure? Why are you so mean to me?”

The second son was standing on top of the pile of manure with a pitch fork, digging away. The Dad asked, “Son, what are you doing?” The son replied, “with all this horse shit in here, there has to be a pony somewhere”

What I learned from this story

Regardless of how bad any situation may appear in the moment, there is ALWAYS something good that will come from it. This applies to both your professional and personal life.

So as you move along your journey, remember to ‘Find the pony’ . Find the positive in every situation, every experience is an opportunity to learn something new.

Author: Michelle Preyde – Former Director HR, Tim Hortons

It this time with so many grads looking for their first job, this is a well timed piece of advice.  Please share to spread the ‘positivity’ 🙂