One of my favourite stories comes from the Taoist tradition of China,
And it goes like this.
There was a farmer who kept horses,
And one morning one of them bolted,
And ran off into the wilderness.
The farmer's neighbour came around and said,
Man that's real bad luck.
The farmer said,
Maybe.
The next day the horse returned,
Bringing with it a wild stallion.
The farmer's neighbour came around and said,
Wow,
You really lucked out.
And the farmer said,
Maybe.
A day after that,
The farmer's son was trying to break the horse,
Trying to tame the horse.
And this wild horse threw the farmer's son from its back,
And the son broke his leg.
The neighbour came around and said,
Wow,
That's too bad.
The farmer said,
Maybe.
The day after that,
The military came around.
They were conscripting for a war effort.
But they passed over the farmer's son because he was injured.
The neighbour came around and said,
Wow,
That's really good luck.
And the farmer said,
Maybe.
I love this story because it shows very quickly how events that can seem bad may end up bringing good circumstances around.
Of course,
The opposite is true.
We may have what appears to be some good luck.
And it could lead to some bad.
I remember feeling after hearing this story for the first time,
I just didn't know how things were going to play out.
It seems right now as though most of us are experiencing some form of bad fortune.
Already I see silver linings in many people's situations.
This doesn't take away from the fact that some of us are being worked incredibly hard.
Some of us are dealing with illness and pain,
Perhaps even loss of loved ones.
But things like hard work,
Grief,
Loss,
All kinds of things that could be considered suffering,
Can tend to play out in mysterious ways.
It's incredibly rare that any experience or circumstance is entirely bad or entirely good.
Almost all things that happen are a mixed bag.
Some good and some bad involved in every experience.
One of my favourite books I've never read is written by a famous Vietnamese Zen monk named Thich Nhat Hanh.
The title of this book is No Mud,
No Lotus.
I feel the essence of that book can be understood by its title alone.
Maybe one day I'll get around to reading it.
But I love the concept.
I wonder how many of us have had some experience in our past that seemed like it was all bad.
Only to then see down the line that perhaps that led to tremendous growth.
Or to some kind of understanding that ended up being really important to us.
An example that comes to mind is sometimes we might fall out with members of our family over something.
Only to then realise that our differences are not worth separating ourselves over.
That experience will actually strengthen our relationship in the future.
Once we know that our differences really don't matter in the end.
Then we can end up being closer than ever before.
The topic that's on everyone's mind right now is illness.
It's often that when a family member becomes ill,
Or even when we lose a family member,
That we bond deeply or we put past grievances aside in light of what really matters.
So there's a lot of uncertainty right now.
And I encourage us all to remember the story of the Chinese farmer.
Who had what seemed to be bad luck that turned out to be good luck.
And what appeared to be good luck that turned out to be bad luck.
We see that chain of events and we see that we just do not know how things are going to play out.
So let's all take care of ourselves and those around us.
Let's understand that those two are not separate.
Taking care of ourselves is taking care of others.
And let's smile at uncertainty.
