One day, the stallion got out of the corral and disappeared. The man was much loved in his neighborhood and his neighbors all came over to sympathize with him. They all said what a terrible thing that you lost your one beloved possession.
Calmly, the man fixed them with his gaze and replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no. It is too early to tell."
Mystified as to how he could be so calm under the circumstances the neighbors left sorrowfully. But two days later the stallion returned and following him were three beautiful wild horses.
The neighbors saw this and were joyous. They once again talked to the man and told him how fortunate he was. Once again his response was the same, "Maybe yes, maybe no. It is too soon to tell."
Again, the neighbors left mystified.
The next day, the man's son, delighted with the newly acquired wild horses, went into the corral to train one. No more than a minute after he mounted one of the horses, he was thrown and in the fall broke his leg.
Again the neighbors were distraught and came to the man to extend their sympathies. What a terrible thing to lose the only person who was helping you in the field like this. Calmly, the man repeated his belief, "Maybe yes, maybe no. It is too soon to tell."
Again they left completely confused as to how the man could be so content.
As the week went by a Warlord and his followers swept down on the town and took every grown son to fight with them in their army. Most all his neighbors lost children. But when the band came to the man's farm they found him with a disabled son and passed him up.
Are we all too quick to judge the circumstances in our lives?
To paraphrase Shakespeare, and happily I have a distinguished poet among my followers who will give me the correct quote, "Circumstances are neither good nor bad, but thinking makes them so."
"Guard well the portals of your mind," is another famous quote whose author I have lost. Once you start realizing the power of your thoughts, you will have discovered one of life's most liberating secrets.
Breathe Easy.
