When I was studying Islam for my GCSE's at school, I remember reading a story in my text-book that I really loved. I have quickly searched for this story online, and can't find it as a Muslim teaching, but found a version of it on a Catholic website.
Perhaps you have heard the story of the man who, many years ago, received a magnificent horse. All his neighbours came to admire the horse. They said to him, "You are the luckiest man in our village." The man replied: "Maybe yes, maybe no."
A few days later the horse escaped his enclosure and the neighbours came to console him. "What terrible luck," they said. The man replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
The next week the horse returned and following him were seven wild horses. The neighbours congratulated him on his good luck. The man replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
When his son tried to train one of the wild horses, it threw him and the young man broke his leg. The neighbours all commented on the bad luck. The man said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
Then, the army swept through the village and conscripted all able-bodied young men but, because of the broken leg, they left the man's son. The neighbours, of course, told him how fortunate he was. And the man replied, "Maybe yes, maybe no."
I like the idea behind this story; that something that could be perceived to be good fortune is actually bad fortune, and vice versa. It is so true! For instance (two recent work-related examples from my life)... you can go to a job interview, and be disappointed if you don't get it, but perhaps it is actually for the best as there is a better job around the corner. Or, you can get a job and think that it is the best opportunity ever, but then it all turns sour. I often think of this fable, as at many times in life, it so relevant. Life is full of potentially life-changing moments, and we can never know what is around the corner.
Yes, that's very true, I am a living witness. When it comes to professional life (or indeed life in general), all that glitters is not gold.
ReplyDelete"there is nothing /either good or bad, but thinking makes it so" Hamlet IIii- and lots more US style motivational quotes about how it's not what happens to us but how we react to it that matters; but I prefer your story, veggie carrie
ReplyDelete...it's the half-empty, half-full glass.....about perception.....and I agree the Islamic tale is great.
ReplyDeleteFrankofile and anonymous, interesting comments, and I am glad that you both like the Islamic story.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I see the tale as being more about how a person can never know whether the outcome of a decision is good or bad until it happens. Whatever your perception of an event, it doesn't make any difference to the outcome of the event. I see it as both a warning against over-confidence in good times, and a message of hope in difficult times.
True and agree
ReplyDelete