As a Man Thinketh...

Many years ago I met a man named Harley who grew up in Colorado. He explained how he wasted 40 minutes everyday in traffic since it took him 30 minutes to cover 8 miles each way. He dreaded going to work because he hated his job. He dreaded going home because his family was so ungrateful. He worked long hours and the breaks were short. The pay was low and his boss unfair. He knew he deserved better but no one seemed to notice him. He had worked at this job for 9 months and they had refused to give him a raise even though his expenses exceeded his income — the boss just didn’t seem to care. His family always complained that they didn’t have enough money. Life, in general, was miserable for him.

Several days after hearing Harley’s story I met Pete. He told me how he had to drive through rush hour every day but he enjoyed it because he had time to think and would listen to his favorite CD’s or to some talk radio. He was very thankful for his job because he was able to earn far more than he ever would in his native country. He told me how he loved his boss because he always made sure he had overtime work. “I am able to put aside a little every week for my kid’s college, send some to my mom back home and still take my wife out once a month,” he said with a big grin. The company was good to him and provided his family with health care and a 401K. He’d been there 2 years and earned 2 raises and the company had just enrolled him in management training. He was a very happy man.

The amazing thing is that both of these men worked at the same place as grill chefs flipping hamburgers all day.

Harley and Pete were very similar. Both were in their early 30’s, married with 3 children, rented their homes and drove similar cars. Both had graduated high school and neither had started married life out with much. The only difference was where they had come from. Harley had grown up in a stable middle class home in America and his parents provided well for him. Pete, on the other hand, was one of 5 children raised by a single mother (his father died in an accident when Pete was 8 years old) and grew up in poverty in Mexico, knowing hunger and lack.

The only real difference in Pete and Harley was their attitude. This goes to illustrate the truth from Proverbs 23:7a, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…” Each man had deep seated beliefs or thoughts which were built in their heart during their upbringing. You would think Harley would have been the more thankful since his upbringing was comfortable while Pete could have been resentful because he had a rough childhood. However, it was just the opposite.

Pete had a positive filter through which he viewed his life and the filter was colored with thankfulness and humility.

Harley had a negative filter through which he viewed his life and his filter was tinted with envy and pride.

Both had been dealt the same hand in life. Both had played their cards. Pete turned his hand into a winner while Harley turned his into a loser.

How are you playing your cards?

Proverbs 12:25: “If there is anxiety in a man’s mind let him quash it, and turn it into joy with a good word.” — Tanakh Version

Journal Notes, December 4, 2005
Geoff Dunn
© 2005