It is important to be aware that events only have the meaning you give them, on their own they have no meaning, this is proven in the following chinese proverb:
A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away.
His neighbors said, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news.”
The man just said, “Maybe, maybe not”
A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses following. The man and his son corralled all 21 horses.
His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news.”
The man just said, “Maybe, maybe not”
One of the wild horses kicked the man's only son, breaking both his legs.
His neighbors said, “I'm so sorry. This is such bad news.”
The man just said, “Maybe, maybe not”
The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer's son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted.
His neighbors said, “Congratulations! This is such good news.”
The man just said, “Maybe, maybe not”
Applying this line of thinking to whatever life throws at you allows you to remain calm in even the toughest of circumstances as every incident can always be seen from two perspectives and by knowing this we can remain a constant.
- Nobody has ever learnt anything important from happiness and success; problems make us grow - Consult your plan, not your feelings - If you haven't set goals, how can you expect to achieve anything?
