Who knows?

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~ Alan Watts

There’s a story about a farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, the neighbors gathered to commiserate with him since this seemed like such bad fortune. The farmer simply replied, “Who knows what’s good or bad?”

The next day, the horse returned, bringing with it a band of wild horses. The neighbors came to celebrate his great fortune. Again, the farmer responded, “Who knows what’s good or bad?”

The following day, his son tried to tame one of the wild horses but was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors came to offer their sympathy for this misfortune. The farmer said once more, “Who knows what’s good or bad?”

The next day, the army came through their village conscripting able-bodied young men to go and fight in war, but the son was spared because of his broken leg. When the neighbors came to say how fortunately everything had turned out, the farmer said, “Who knows what’s good or bad?”

Perhaps peace lies not in seeking to understand whether something is good or bad, but in knowing, as the farmer did, that every moment unfolds into something we cannot yet see. His wisdom was not in hoping for the best, but in understanding that we never see the whole.

As Hermann Hesse reminds us: “This day will never come again and anyone who fails to eat and drink and taste and smell it will never have it offered to him again in all eternity. The sun will never shine as it does today...But you must play your part and sing a song, one of your best.”

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Stay passionate!