Let’s face it. We perceive everything that happens to us as good or bad and miserably fail to grasp at reality. Happiness is, after all, relative.
Let me share with you this story:
There once was a farmer, whose horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad fortune”, they said full of sympathy.
“Maybe” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it, three other wild horses.
“What great fortune”, the neighbors exclaimed!
“Maybe”, replied the old man.
The following day the farmer’s son tried to ride one of the untamed horses. He was thrown off and broke his leg. The son would forever limp.
“What terrible fortune”, the neighbors cried.
“Maybe”, answered the farmer.
The next morning, the army came through the farmer’s village to draft young able bodied men for the war. Seeing his son’s limp, they passed him by.
The neighbors congratulated the farmer. “What wonderful fortune”!
“Maybe”, said the farmer.
The moral of the story is that nothing is static as it seems. It’s hard to tell which experiences are going to turn out fortuitous because everything is constantly changing. Opportunities come and go. Some disappointments end up being a stroke of luck.
The farmer in the story was responding to the situations presented nonreactively. And I guess that’s the way we should deal with the cards laid out randomly in our lives.
Facing life with a nonreactive stance may be the best thing one can take in order to lessen the anxieties we have in life. The less we react to many situations, the happier we become.
Keep life rules simple. Count your blessings. It’s a good life!
