Good, bad, who knows?

“Sometimes not getting what you think you want is the biggest stroke of luck”.

I had what I perceived to be a terrible day yesterday. I was left feeling extremely hurt, confused and bitterly disappointed.

I threw myself a mini pity party last night and when a friend asked me how I was, without hesitation I told him “I have had a really bad day”.

“No you haven’t” he replied “there’s no such thing as good or bad, it’s just your perception making it so”.

Hmmm, I pondered for a second. “That’s very wise, where did you get that from?” I asked.

I had to laugh when he told me I had said it in an interview I had carried out a few weeks ago.

It’s true that although we can know all the elements that, when fit together, would make life forever peaceful, we all occasionally need a gentle reminder of how to actually live them.

The good/bad/who knows analogy is one I often tell myself at the time my mind races off to create its own story in a knee-jerk reaction to a specific event. It brings me back to my centre and releases any judgement, allowing me the freedom to just let things Be, without labels.

A farmer had one old horse that he used for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbors heard about it, they sympathised with the old man over his bad luck. “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” said the farmer.

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone agreed that this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, who replied, “Bad Luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and forced every able-bodied young man to go fight in a bloody war. When they saw that the farmer’s son had a broken leg, they let him stay. Everyone was very happy at the farmer’s good luck.

Makes you think doesn’t it? Now go back to a time where this could have applied to you. Where eventually you could see that not getting what you thought you wanted ended up being a relief. Next time something happens that you instantly label as ‘bad” remember this and don’t feel down; give it time. It could be the best thing that ever happened to you.