Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most “unfortunate.” The farmer said MAYBE. The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses.” The farmer again said MAYBE. The following day, his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said,” Oh dear, that’s too bad.” and the farmer responded, MAYBE. The next day, the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he has a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said MAYBE.
Ancient Taoist tale.
REFLECTION:
- Have you had this kind of experience in your life? What you thought was a set back turned into a blessing?
- Examine some incidents in your life and see if there is a silver lining.
- How we label an incident determines what we view as happiness or sadness.
