The most certain thing in life is that life is uncertain and the aim of this blog is to drive that point home with the hopes of giving someone peace during a challenging season of life. Please take a few minutes to consider the lesson in the narrative below (this too shall pass(ish)) as it pertains to your life and if you’d like to read more about how it applies to mine, you can do so here. If you end up enjoying this blog, I’d also recommend reading this one as well.
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The Maybe Story
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.” The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.” The whole process of nature is an integrated process of immense complexity, and it’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune. — Alan Watts
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The truth is that “good” and “bad” are subjective things that depend heavily on context. Life is full of uncertainties and adversities but those challenging things don’t have to be “bad” things. We are all getting a puzzle piece at a time without the whole picture and so the next time that life hands you something that the world tells you is “bad,” realize that you get to choose your perspective. Keep the word “maybe” in mind as you ride the waves of life; don’t get too high and don’t get too low. If you’d like to hear stories from people who have turned strength in struggle and “bad” into “good,” you can do that right here (Spotify) or here (Apple).
“You never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.”
Alan Watts
Thank you for reading, maybe!
Joe Rinaldi
IG: @joearinaldi
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