This idea comes from the Taoist tradition so it could easily be more than 2,000 years old. If you ask me, what did people really know 2,000 years ago? This story that I am about to tell applies to every person’s life and can easily be brought into your everyday life. Here it is; a story about a farmer and his horse:
One day his horse runs away. And his neighbor comes over and says, to commiserate, “I’m so sorry about your horse.” And the farmer says, “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?” The neighbor is confused because this is clearly terrible. The horse is the most valuable thing he owns.
But the horse comes back the next day and he brings with him 12 feral horses. The neighbor comes back over to celebrate, “Congratulations on your great fortune!” And the farmer replies again: “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?”
And the next day the farmer’s son is taming one of the wild horses and he’s thrown and breaks his leg. The neighbor comes back over, “I’m so sorry about your son.” The farmer repeats: “Who Knows What’s Good or Bad?”
Sure enough, the next day the army comes through their village and is conscripting able-bodied young men to go and fight in war, but the son is spared because of his broken leg.
Good. Bad. Who knows?
I was first introduced to this story by my mindfulness professor and I had to take note of it. Every day something goes wrong in our lives even if it is the tiniest thing like spilling a cup of coffee on your way to work; if that is the worst thing to happen all day then it’s a good day. But what if you spill your coffee and that caused you to look down. Maybe there is a penny heads up that you can step and make a wish on and if you didn’t drop your coffee that caused you to look down, then you would have missed it. Yes, there are big terrible things that happen in our lives, but we need to have the mind set and understanding that something beautiful can come out of it.
There should be no labels on what is good and what is bad (of course there are exceptions, but you know that I am saying). If there is a label on what is “bad” then does that mean, there are only negative effects that come from it? If something is “good” does that mean, there are only positive effects from it? From all of my experiences of good or bad situations, there is always some good in the bad and some bad in the good.
So, when something “bad” happens, let’s not dwell on it, have a neutral emotion on the situation because you never know what could come from it. When there is a good going on in your life (of course be happy and celebrate) but keep neutral emotions because again, you never know what can come from it. This is just something to think about and to practice <3. With everything, make it your own, make it make sense to you and enjoy it. Have a great rest of your Wednesday!
xx
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