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 \u2014 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 \u2014 the only problem was that Gus couldn\u2019t tell stories and work at the same time\u2026. so finding a balance was sometimes difficult.\u00a0
Anyhow, I\u2019m not sure why, but I recently remembered a story that he told me one day that I\u2019ve always liked\u2026I hope I remember enough of it to do it justice\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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. \u201cWise man, help me. A terrible thing has happened \u2014 my ox died and I won\u2019t be able to plow my field. Isn\u2019t this the worst thing that could have happened?\u201d The wise old man said, \u201cMaybe yes, maybe no.\u201d 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 \u2014 and the wise man couldn\u2019t see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The very next day, a strong, young horse was seen near the man\u2019s farm. The farmer had the idea to catch the horse to replace his ox \u2014 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. \u201cYou were right, wise man. Losing my ox wasn\u2019t the worst thing that could have happened \u2014 it was a blessing. I never would have caught the horse if it didn\u2019t happen.\u201d The old wide man again said, \u201cMaybe yes, maybe no.\u201d By now the farmer was sure the wise man had gone off his rocker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few days later, the farmer\u2019s son was riding the horse and was thrown off. He broke his leg and wouldn\u2019t be able to help with the crop. The farmer thought, oh no, now we\u2019ll starve to death.\u00a0
So back to the old wise man the farmer went. \u201cHow did you know that catching that horse was not a good thing? You were right again \u2014 my son is injured and won\u2019t be able to help with the crops. This must be the worst thing that could possibly have happened.\u201d The old wise man once again said, \u201cMaybe yes, maybe no.\u201d The farmer was really ticked this time and stormed back to the village.\u00a0
The next day troops arrived to take every able-bodied man to the war that had just broken out. The farmer\u2019s son was the only young man in the village who didn\u2019t have to go. His son would live, while the others would surely die.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moral of this story is that we don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen \u2014 we just think we do. We sometimes let our minds make things worse than they actually turn out. A lot of the time, we\u2019re wrong. If we just stay calm and open to possibilities, we can be reasonably sure, eventually, all will be well \u2014 or \u2014 maybe not.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 \u2014 keeping track of items in one of our … Continue reading