It’s All Perspective

​The story is told of two shoe salesmen with totally different outlooks.  The first salesman went to Africa.  Upon arriving, he noticed none of the people were wearing shoes.  Seeing no opportunities for his product, he packed his things and headed back home.  Once there, as he was sharing the details of his experience with some of his salesman co-workers; one of them overheard the conversation, went to the boss and convinced him to send him back to the very place the other salesman had just left.  Once there, he too looked around and noticed no one was wearing shoes, so instead of looking at the situation from the negative, as did his co-worker, he instead took a positive approach, and saw the potential for selling a village full of shoes.  Once he arrived back home, he was bombarded by co-workers wanting to know the details of his experience- expecting it to sound much like the other salesman's.  Instead of complaining about what he found when he arrived, he excitedly told those listening about the wonderful opportunity and the overwhelming success he had selling shoes to the entire village.
 
The moral of the story is two guys with the same product, went to the very same place, and saw two different opportunities, because they looked with two different perspectives.  The only difference was their attitude.  It’s easy to complain about what we see and conclude the situation to be a hopelessly lost cause, as did the first salesman.  However, those who look through the eyes of possibility see past what is, to what can be, with just a change of attitude.  Perhaps this is a good lesson for us to remember as the congregation advances into the new year- which is full of untold possibilities, because the God of endless possibilities is leading the charge. 
 
Blessings!
 
Lamar