Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the
central region of China. He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a
tractor, he used an old horse to plow his field.
One afternoon,
while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the
village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to happen." The farmer said
simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in
the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new
horse as a gift.
Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man." And the farmer said, "We'll see."
A
couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone
in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor fellow!"
The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."
Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, "What a fortunate man."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Later
in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on the horse and
fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a shame for
the poor boy."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Two days
later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they
saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit
him.
Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."
The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."
Moral
of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the events and
circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a
setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in
the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can
learn valuable lessons from.
As Fra Giovanni once said:
"Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me... the gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."
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