Links
Jul
15
Good or Bad
Filed Under Uncategorized
Things aren’t good or bad they just are. I didn’t really understand that saying the first time I heard it, until someone told me the story of the farmer and his son.
There once was a farmer who had horses. One day his son left the the gate to the coral open and all the horses ran away.
The neighbors came over and said “We’re so sorry about your horses running away. That’s too bad.”
The farmer’s only reply was, “Maybe it’s bad, maybe it’s not.”
The next day the farmer’s horses returned and with them followed twenty wild horses.
The neighbors came over and said “Congratulations! You got all your horses back plus twenty new horses, that’s great!”
The farmer’s only reply was, “Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not.”
That night, the farmer’s son broke his leg trying to ride one of the wild horses. The neighbors came over and said “we heard that your son has broken his leg, now he can’t help you on the farm, that’s bad.”
The farmer’s only reply was, “Maybe it’s bad, maybe it’s not.”
Two weeks later, messengers from the emperor’s castle came to recruit soldiers for the emperor’s army. The son had to stay home because of his broken leg.
The neighbors came over and said, “You and your son are so lucky, because of his broken leg he didn’t have to go to war.”
The farmer’s only reply was, “Maybe it’s good, maybe it’s not.”
You get the point. I really like the idea of not judging events, of not putting a label on something that has happened to us, because frankly we don’t know if things truly are good or bad. Only time can tell.
My point is, maybe it’s not all bad that you got caught in that armbar. Maybe that’s what you needed to make you focus on your defense. And maybe it’s not good that you made everyone in class tap. It makes you feel good, but now no one wants to roll with you because they think you’re an ego-maniac.
We shouldn’t look at things that happen to us as good or bad, we shouldn’t be quick to make that judgment, only time can tell.
