I love metaphors. I want to share with you a metaphor that I like because it really powerfully shows exactly what success looks like.
Metaphors really help me to look at scenarios from a different perspective. And, oftentimes that new and different perspective brings clarity to a situation.
Let me share a Chinese proverb with you:
There was a Chinese farmer who worked his farm together with his son. They worked day in and day out but were barely making ends meet. The farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living by pulling the plow to plow the field.
The farmer’s neighbors always told him, “You’re so lucky to have a horse to pull the plow for you.”
The farmer would reply, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
One day the farmer forgot to latch the gate and the horse ran off.
The neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well.
The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!”
To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
The Moral of the Story?
It is impossible to determine whether something is good or bad. When we interpret a situation as being an opportunity or a disaster, it first shapes how we feel and then how we respond.
You never know what the consequences of misfortune or good fortune will be. Only time will tell the full story.
Very few events in life can be huge as good or bad, lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate – at the time they occur.
In many cases, only time will tell the whole story.
The reality is, life is an integrated process of immense complexity. It is really impossible to tell if anything that happens is good or bad because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune. You never know what will be the consequence of the good fortune.
There is only what happens and how we choose to respond. So, look for opportunities in every situation that comes your way. Allow life to continually teach you and then change to become stronger and even better.
Everything changes. The universe is ever-changing. Nothing is truly ever black and white.