Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region
of China.
He didn't have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor, he
used an old
horse to plow his field.
One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped
dead.
Everyone in the village said, "Oh, what a horrible thing to
happen."
The farmer said simply, "We'll see." He was so at peace and so calm,
that
everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude,
gave him a new horse as
a gift.
Everyone's reaction now was, "What a lucky man."
And the farmer said,
"We'll see."
A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran
away.
Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, "What a poor
fellow!"
The farmer smiled and said, "We'll see."
Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again
said,
"What a fortunate man."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Later in the year, the farmer's young boy went out riding on
the horse
and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, "What a shame
for the poor boy."
The farmer said, "We'll see."
Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new
recruits.
When they saw that the farmer's son had a broken leg, they decided
not to
recruit him.
Everyone said, "What a fortunate young man."
The farmer smiled again - and said "We'll see."
Moral of the story: There's no use in overreacting to the
events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a
setback,
may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are
in the right place, all events and
circumstances are gifts that we can
learn valuable lessons from.
As Fra Giovanni once said:
"Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty,
believe me... the gift
is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence."
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