There is a Chinese Proverb that goes something like this…

A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

The moral of this story is that no event in and of itself can truly be judged as good or bad, lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate until time passes and we are able to see the whole story. Additionally, it could be considered a great waste of time to judge minor inconveniences as misfortunes or to invest tons of energy into things that look outstanding on the surface, but may not pay off in the end.

The more balanced approach is to take all things in stride whether they originally appear to be ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ If we try to accept whatever shows up for us on our door step without jumping to conclusions or getting caught up the tendency of the mind to ruminate about the future, life may be more relaxed and stress free. The challenge is learning how to be receptive and open to what ever comes our way and trying to make the best of our life circumstances. Bringing some curiosity to the situation rather than immediately passing judgement and declaring them as good or bad is a more mindful approach. Wouldn’t it be nice to simply sit back and relax and say “It will be interesting to see what happens.”