There is a Chinese story of an old farmer who had an old horse for tilling his fields. One day the horse escaped into the hills and when all the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?” Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him stay home.

Now was that good luck or bad luck?  …who knows?

2 thoughts on “Good Luck? Bad Luck?”

  1. It was good luck when you follow the story. Going off to war could have proven to be far worse than a broken leg. I know that my answer is simple, but I feel it is simply the truth when you look at the big picture.
    I love the Farmer’s philosophy of not judging good or bad luck, but I not on this one by calling it good luck.

  2. Sidney
    April 4th, 2020
    We can not see the big picture how things will turn out in the long run.
    Looking back we have perfect 20/20 vision to see our blessings.

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