I am, by nature, a positive, optimistic person. So much so, my husband says if I walked into a room full of horse manure, I would immediately begin looking for the pony.  And he's right, I would. But that doesn't mean I don't see the crap in there; it simply means I choose to walk around it and not dwell on it.  

I inherited that trait from my mother, who got it from her mother. Maw Maw Willie or Miss Willie as everyone called her, was the most positive, optimistic, joy-filled person I ever met. No matter what the situation was, she would find something good in it. That fascinated me so much I asked her once how she always managed to do that. Her reply? "Well, Baby Dear (she called everyone that), you see what you look for. You can choose to look for the bad or choose to look for the good. I choose the good." She was never without a smile, a cheerful word, or a helping hand, so, obviously, her plan was a good one. I vowed right then to always try and be like her. 

But being positive today is a challenge.  You can't turn on the television or even scroll social media without being bombarded by negativity or even cruelty.  When I see those posts, I scroll right past them without so much as a glance and look for the cute kittens or cool recipes, the pictures of someone's new grand baby or, occasionally, the bare chested firemen because, I mean, really, that's pretty positive, right? 

Hubs tends to see the negative first and gets put out with me at times because he thinks I walk around with my head in the sand, refusing to see what's going on around me. What he cannot understand is that I DO see it, I know its there, I simply choose not to let it steal my joy;  because it will. In a heartbeat.  

Positive or negative, attitude is everything. How you look at yourself, your life, your family, the world is impacted by your attitude. For me, I choose to be positive. I choose to look for the best in people and situations first and deal with the bad when I must.  

I readily admit there are times when looking for the pony is a struggle, but I somehow manage. No matter what is going on at the moment, looking for the pony is a way to keep something positive in front of me to balance out the negative.  Because, lets face it, Mr. Negativity will always be there, trying to bury your precious little pony under that huge pile of manure and steal all the joy from your life. 

Don't let him win. Look for the pony.