One day, the son of an old farmer carelessly left the gate of his stable open. The only horse they had escaped. All the neighbours came to express their solidarity: “ What bad luck! ”
However, the old man was unfazed, only saying: “ Maybe, maybe .”
The next day the horse returned to the stable and brought with him ten other wild horses that followed him down from the mountains. Now the farmer had eleven horses and had become the richest man in the village. All the neighbours came to visit him and said: “ It seems that it was a stroke of luck that the horse ran away after all .”
The old man only answered them: “ It could be, it could be .”
The next day, while his son was trying to tame one of the horses, he fell and broke his leg. As winter approached, without his son’s help on the farm, the old man would have to face great problems. The neighbors told him: “ In the end, it was a mistake. Now you have the horses but you don’t have your son to help you. It’s a terrible thing .”
The father, instead of complaining, replied: “ Maybe, maybe .”
The next day, the army came to the village and recruited all the young men to fight in a suicidal war. It was possible that none of them would return home. However, since the farmer’s son had a broken leg, he was not recruited and stayed safely at home.
Once again the neighbours told him how lucky he had been. Again the farmer replied: “ Maybe, maybe .”
Learning to see beyond the present: Key to achieving serenity
It is a very simple story, but it contains a huge lesson, something we often forget: in life there are no completely good or completely bad situations, everything has pros and cons. Although sometimes, when we are overwhelmed by sadness, anger or frustration, it is difficult to find the positive aspects.
However, behind every “bad” situation there may be an opportunity, a positive change. Of course, the opposite also happens: behind an apparently positive situation, there may be a problem that makes our lives even more complicated.
It is also true that we cannot always predict what will happen the following day or week, so instead of falling prey to despair and imagining the worst-case scenario, the smartest attitude is to simply wait until we can see the real consequences of the events.
Not jumping to conclusions means adopting a cautious stance that allows us to be alert to potential opportunities or risks that may appear on the horizon. In fact, a negative situation can plunge us into a state of such great despair that we are unable to appreciate opportunities when they present themselves. In the same way, an exaggerated state of euphoria will prevent us from noticing the risks that are approaching and will make us assume an excessively confident attitude.
Both attitudes are counterproductive because they isolate us from the world and what happens, making us live in the bubble of our emotions and thoughts.
However, understanding that the consequences of certain situations or actions can be unpredictable is not only an intellectual exercise but also an emotional one. Once we have internalized that the condition we are experiencing today can take a surprising turn tomorrow, we understand that everything is nothing more than a stage and, as such, will pass. It is likely that today’s worries will make you smile tomorrow.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that we won’t feel pain, but the suffering will be much more bearable. When we are fully aware that the problem we are experiencing is temporary, we can adopt a more serene attitude. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t get down to work to solve it, but that we should have enough fortitude to be able to see beyond the present.
This is certainly a change of perspective that cannot be achieved overnight. However, it is worth trying because it leads us to a more serene life and helps us find peace even in the midst of the storm.
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