Fireplaces & Horses—It Depends On How You Look At Them

I was excited to show my granddad my new big fireplace in our new dream home.

It was beautiful! Brick façade, great big mantle—it was spectacular! Granddad was not impressed, at all.

He said that since he had spent all his life cutting firewood for fireplaces, actually there were six in the house my mother grew up in, that he looked at them differently. They represented hard times, a lot of work and a way of life he had put into his past. His idea of a great house was one that didn’t have ANY fireplaces. That meant there was a great heating unit in there and he could stay as warm as he wanted by simply adjusting the thermostat.

Now to him, THAT was spectacular!

Now all that didn’t change my attitude about my fireplace but it did make me realize there was another way to look at it. It all depended on where you were coming from.

I ran into the same reaction when the subject of horses came up in a conversation with my friend Brian Mehmen. He told me he grew up on a horse farm and that his dad still lived on one. Warming to the subject, I told him I loved horses, had a horse farm myself and had that our family had been involved in all kinds of horse activities for years from fox hunting to eventing to competing on the Hunter Jumper show circuit.

However, it didn’t take long to notice Brian was not as gung ho about the subject as I was. It turned out he grew up having to muck out stalls. His entire experience was taking care of them, every day having to clean up after them, feed and water them. He was not on the fun side of the horse. I never got involved in that part.

Just like babies, horses are a lot more fun when you aren’t required to clean up the poop. When Brian thought of horses, that’s the thought he had in his mind. No wonder he wasn’t thrilled. That memory would never leave him. In his world, a great life would be totally without any horses involved.

Perspective. It changes how you look at things.

When you are on the enjoyment side, you love it!
When you are stuck on the work side you hate it.
When you do something because you want to, you love it.
When you do something because you have to, you resent it.

It's worth remembering, just because you love something, it doesn’t mean everybody will.