Are the things that happen in your life innately good or bad? I recently heard a parable about a Chinese farmer, his son, and their horse and it changed everything for me.
A farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”
A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The neighbors cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, because he had a broken leg. The neighbors shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
The lesson? There is no room for judgement when only time can tell the consequences of good fortune or misfortune.
You will only know the true outcome when you die. And when you’re dead it won’t matter.
So the goal of life isn’t to ascribe meaning to the things that happen or to label them as good or bad.
The goal is to live, make decisions, learn, change behavior according to what you learn, improve, and grow.
The past is gone and the future doesn’t exist. Focus on what you can control: the present moment.
Live in the here and now.
Will you let “good luck” or misfortune define your life or will you finally let go and live in the moment?
Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.
