Extract from "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell

As we neared the end of the twentieth century, much was written about the men and women who survived the Depression and fought World War II, the people Tom Brokaw called "the greatest generation." I recall reading a story about a woman of that generation who followed her husband during the war to a U.S. Army camp in the desert of southern California. The man had advised against it, thinking that she would be more comfortable back East with her family, but the young bride didn't want to be separated from her new husband.

The only living accommodation they could find was a run-down shack near a Native American village. The place was very basic. During the day, temperatures often reached 115 degrees. The wind, which blew constantly, felt like air from a furnace. And the dust made everything miserable.

The young woman found the days to be long and boring. Her only neighbors were Native Americans with whom she could find little in common. When her husband was sent into the desert for two weeks of maneuvers, she broke down. The living conditions and loneliness were too much for her. She wrote her mother to say that she wanted to come home.

A short time later, she received a reply from home. One of the things her mother told her was this:

Two men looked through prison bars;
One saw mud, the other saw stars.

As the young woman read the lines over and over, at first she felt ashamed. The her resolve grew. She truly wanted to stay with her husband, so she made a decision. She would look for the stars.

The next day, she worked to make friends with her neighbors. As she got to know them, she also asked them to teach her about their weaving and pottery. At first they were reluctant, but as they saw that her interest in them and their work was genuine, they became more open. The more the woman learned about the Native American culture and history, the more she wanted to know. Her perspective started changing. Even the desert began to look different to her. She began to appreciate its quiet beauty, its tough but beautiful plants, even the rocks and fossilized seashells she found as she explored it. She even began to write about her experiences there.

What had changed? Not the desert. Not the people who lived there. She had changed. Her attitude had transformed -- and as a result, so did her outlook.

The happiest people in life don't necessarily have the best of everything. They just try to make the best of everything. They're like the person in a remote village going to a well every day to get water who says, "Every time I come to this well, I come away with my bucket full!" instead of "I can't believe I have to keep coming back to this well to fill up my bucket!"

A person's attitude has a profound influence on his approach to life.

Extract from "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell.