A lot of cultures have folklore, or stories passed down through time that have a moral. When we were in the Philippines, there was an old guy that worked for me — keeping track of items in one of our warehouses. His name was Gus. Gus was full of stories and he was fascinating to listen to — the only problem was that Gus couldn’t tell stories and work at the same time…. so finding a balance was sometimes difficult.
Anyhow, I’m not sure why, but I recently remembered a story that he told me one day that I’ve always liked…I hope I remember enough of it to do it justice….
There once was a village in the Philippines that had as one of its residents a very wise old man. All the villagers trusted the old man to provide them answers to their questions and concerns. One day a farmer in the village went to the wise man for help. “Wise man, help me. A terrible thing has happened — my ox died and I won’t be able to plow my field. Isn’t this the worst thing that could have happened?” The wise old man said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” The farmer went into the village and told his neighbors that the wise man had lost his mind. His ox dying surely was the worst thing that could have happened — and the wise man couldn’t see it.
The very next day, a strong, young horse was seen near the man’s farm. The farmer had the idea to catch the horse to replace his ox — and he did. The farmer was very happy. Plowing the field had never been easier. He felt bad, so he went back to the old wise man to apologize. “You were right, wise man. Losing my ox wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened — it was a blessing. I never would have caught the horse if it didn’t happen.” The old wide man again said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” By now the farmer was sure the wise man had gone off his rocker.
A few days later, the farmer’s son was riding the horse and was thrown off. He broke his leg and wouldn’t be able to help with the crop. The farmer thought, oh no, now we’ll starve to death.
So back to the old wise man the farmer went. “How did you know that catching that horse was not a good thing? You were right again — my son is injured and won’t be able to help with the crops. This must be the worst thing that could possibly have happened.” The old wise man once again said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” The farmer was really ticked this time and stormed back to the village.
The next day troops arrived to take every able-bodied man to the war that had just broken out. The farmer’s son was the only young man in the village who didn’t have to go. His son would live, while the others would surely die.
The moral of this story is that we don’t know what’s going to happen — we just think we do. We sometimes let our minds make things worse than they actually turn out. A lot of the time, we’re wrong. If we just stay calm and open to possibilities, we can be reasonably sure, eventually, all will be well — or — maybe not.
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