Lucky?
Right now, I’m in the midst of reading Dan Millman’s “Way of The Peaceful Warrior” which is an extremely inspiring story about personal transformation. Last night, a specific passage I read really stood out for me and I thought had some great synchronicity with a lot of the messages I’ve been trying to send with this blog.
At a point when the protagonist it as his weakest, someone shares this story with him about a father and son in Japan…
* * *
An old man and his son worked a small farm, with only one horse to pull the plow. One day that horse ran away.
“How terrible,” sympathized the farmer’s neighbors. “What bad luck,” They said.
“Who knows whether it’s good or bad luck,” the farmer replied.
One week later that horse returned to the farm from the mountains, leading five wild horses right into their barn.
“What wonderful luck!” The farmer’s neighbors said.
“Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows,” replied the farmer.
The next day, his son, trying to tame one of the wild horses, fell and shattered his leg.
“How terrible, what bad luck!” His neighbors said.
“Bad luck, good luck?” The farmer again replied.
The next week the army came to all the farms — taking the young men for war. The farmer’s son was of no use to them — so he was spared.
“Good? Bad?”
After I read this story I had to place the book down for a couple minutes and really reflect on this message. For me, I think it’s saying that life is really what we choose to make of it. It’s not what happens to us that’s necessarily good or bad, but our reaction to those events that is under our control.
Again, it’s a little reminder that everything happens for a reason — but we get to be the one that decides what that reason is. Our lessons are our own.
FADE IN: 