This anecdote was shared by our parish priest and I just loved it.
Once a king beckoned two of his ministers. He asked one of them to get samples of all possible kinds of flowers that grew in his kingdom. He asked the second minister to get all possible samples of thorns that could be found in the kingdom. And both of them had a week's time to do so. The ministers set off for the task assigned pronto.
For the next one week, all the first minister could see was flowers... Beautiful flowers in a wide pallet of colours. He was overjoyed to see so many beautiful flowers all in the same kingdom. He thought of organizing an exhibition once this assignment was done. Kings from the neighbouring kingdom could also be invited for the exhibition. It would make such a great event for their kingdom. He diligently collected the flowers samples and waited for the meeting with the king.
The second minister set off to search for thorns. He looked up every nook and corner of the kingdom,for thorns of different kinds - long / short /sharp /blunt. The minister was terrified to see so many thorns in the kingdom. He also thought of discussing it with the king, how to get rid of the thorns as they posed a huge hazard to the people in the kingdom.
Finally the sample collection week ended and the King called a meeting of the council of ministers and invited these two ministers to share their observations with others. The first minister was all praises and said how beautiful the kingdom was because of the flowers. The second minister shared his horror about the huge number of thorns in the kingdom and the grave risk they posed to the people at large.
The king then asked his council, happy how was it possible that two people had contrary views about the same place for an exercise done at the same. The because council of ministers were quiet as they could not think of a possible explanation for what had happened.
Then the king explained, both the ministers were right in their observations, what was different was their approach - what they were seeking. They each found exactly what he was looking for, happy ignoring other things.
It's the same wit us. If we spend out time and energy in looking for negative things in our life or excuses to avoid work, we will find a lot of them. On the other hand if we look for reasons to be positive and do good work, we will find ample reasons.
