Welcome.
Take a moment to settle in,
Wherever you are.
You can sit or just listen.
This isn't a deep meditation or a long stillness practice.
It's more like a story for your soul.
Something to remind you that life is always unfolding.
So take a slow breath in through your nose,
And let it go through your mouth.
Just enough to arrive right here,
Right now.
There's this old story from somewhere in the east about a farmer and his son.
One morning,
Their only horse ran away.
The neighbors came rushing,
Faces full of concern.
Oh no,
What a terrible luck,
They said.
The farmer just looked at them and said,
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
A few days later,
The horse came back and brought with it three wild horses.
Now the neighbors were thrilled.
Wow,
How amazing,
Such good fortune!
And again,
The farmer said,
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
Not long after,
The farmer's son tried to tame one of those wild horses.
He was thrown off when he broke his leg,
And the neighbors came running back,
Of course.
Oh no,
What bad luck!
And the farmer,
Still calm,
Said,
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
A week later,
Soldiers arrived in the village to take every able young man to war.
But they didn't take the farmer's son,
Because of his broken leg.
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
And that line,
It sits with me.
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
Because the truth is,
We never really know what's what while we're in it.
We judge things as if we could know the final outcome.
We listen to everyone around us,
Their opinions and their labels,
Their stories about our story.
But this little fable,
It reminds me.
Life doesn't happen in verdicts.
It happens in motion.
It unfolds from one moment to the next.
And sometimes,
What breaks us,
Saves us.
And sometimes,
What looks perfect,
Falls apart.
And sometimes,
What hurts,
Becomes the doorway to something more whole than we ever imagined.
So when something happens,
And the world rushes in to say good or bad,
Maybe we're reminded to take a breath and whisper back,
Who's to say?
Let's just sit with that for a moment.
Close your eyes if they're not closed already.
And just breathe.
Let go of the story about how it should be.
And just let life be life.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Whatever's happening right now,
You don't have to name it.
Neither good nor the bad.
You don't have to fix it.
You can just meet it,
Right here,
As it is.
Maybe good,
Maybe bad,
Who's to say?
Thank you for listening,
And have a wonderful day.
