Welcome to a five-minute meditation.
As you make yourself comfortable,
Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth,
Allowing your thoughts to subside as you gently follow your breath in and out.
Once there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years.
One day his horse ran away.
Upon hearing the news,
His neighbors came to visit.
Such bad luck,
They said sympathetically.
Maybe,
The farmer replied.
The next morning,
The horse returned bringing with it three other wild horses.
What good luck,
The neighbors exclaimed.
The following day,
His son tried to ride one of the untamed horses,
Was thrown and broke his leg.
The neighbors came again to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
Such bad luck,
They said sympathetically.
Maybe,
Answered the farmer.
The day after,
Military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army.
Seeing that the son's leg was broken,
They passed him by.
What good fortune,
Congratulated the neighbors.
Maybe,
Said the farmer.
Have you ever been disappointed at missing a seemingly good opportunity only to later realize a better one awaited you?
Have you ever been in a relationship that fell apart and caused you much distress and pain only later to be grateful that it didn't work out?
Maybe now,
You're struggling with the situation that seems unfair,
A missed opportunity,
A loss.
In what ways is our mind like the neighbors,
Coloring each experience with the brush of good or bad,
Quick to judge a situation,
Eager to assert our understanding in an attempt to make sense of the world around us?
Is it possible to realize as the father has that good and bad are two sides of the same coin,
Not contradictory but complementary?
Oftentimes,
We struggle labeling experiences as bad or good.
Sometimes,
It is only through time and stepping back to see the bigger picture that we realize what we once perceived to be as bad as we are now.
That we realize what we once perceived to be as bad was actually quite good.
Let us take a moment to stop from separating experiences into laundry piles of good and bad.
Let us instead give thanks for what is happening at this exact moment in our lives,
Acknowledging that what we see may be only what we've let our mind be prepared to comprehend.
Quietly to yourself,
Give thanks for what is.
Give thanks for the seemingly good and the seemingly bad.
As you go about your day,
Try not to divide your mind between good and bad,
But give thanks for what is,
Honoring the ebbs and flows of life.
For in doing so,
You seek not to control and demand but flow and be free.
Take a deep breath in and gently exhale.
Release your thoughts as you follow your breath in and out.
May you gift yourself one judgment-free day.
