This is an OLD old story, but I paraphrase it here from one of our favorite"children's" books, Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth.
"The Farmer's Luck"
There was once an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years.
One day, his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit.
"Such bad luck, " they said sympathetically.
"Maybe, " the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two other wild horses.
"Such good luck! " the neighbors exclaimed.
"Maybe, " replied the farmer.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown off, and broke his leg.
Again, the neighbors came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
"Such bad luck," they said.
"Maybe, " answered the farmer.
The day after that, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army to fight a war. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by.
"Such good luck! " cried the neighbors.
"Maybe, " said the farmer.
I like it
Thanks Chris, I like this one. To me it shows how fruitless it is to try and judge situations or people, you can do it but you can only ever evaluate something from a limited context. Better to drop all that and just be with what is, and respond with what feels appropriate in the moment.
I remember a spiritual teacher I was having regular sessions with telling me that one time he inexplicably felt moved to vote for a state bill contrary to what he felt, and just went with it and trusted that. I've done the same thing a few times in my life, most of the time they align with what makes sense to me logically, but sometimes they don't - and somehow I feel like it's the appropriate thing to do in the grand scheme of things.
I've been trying to trust that more with all of my decisions and practice it on a regular basis, like with my daily commute, I let that sense guide my decision on which route to take, and if it turns out that it's taking a long time and there was a stalled car in a lane, well, perhaps there was some reason for me to be where I was at that particular time. With that attitude, I sure don't get upset in traffic much anymore!
Cheers, Trish