Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The Zen Horse Story

There is much hand-wringing going on right now. There is much judging that it is bad, all bad. To remind us that we do not know what all this will be, I remind you of the Zen Horse story (stop me if you've heard this before)....

There was an old farmer in the country. One day, his stallion broke its fence and ran away. His neighbors said "that's so bad!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

The next day, wanting some oats, the stallion returned. And, it brought three wild fillies with it. His neighbors said "that's great luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

The farmer's teenage son went out to break one of the new horses. It bucked him, and he broke his leg. His neighbors said "what horrible luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe".

The army then came around, conscripting young men to fight in a war. Because of the broken leg, they didn't take the farmer's teenage son. The neighbors said "what great luck!" The old farmer just shrugged and said "Maybe...."


I present this story because we cannot know what this whole economic change will bring. There will be bad parts. There may be good outcomes too. We cannot know for sure. But be open to the possibility that some gifts will come from this. I certainly wish you those........yours, Your Grateful Guy

3 comments:

Steve McCready, MFT said...

Peter -

I hadn't thought about this story in a while, but it's really an appropriate one for what's going on right now. So much depends on attitude and perspective, and I think if we take the current happenings as a message to review our practices, refine what we do, and ensure we are providing quality services that address the current needs of our potential clients, this doesn't have to be a crisis at all.

-Steve

pe said...

Hey Steve,

Yeah, this reminds me of that fact (if it is) that the Chinese symbol for crisis is the same one as for opportunity.

But somehow that feels trite, ya know?

:-) best, Peter

Steve McCready, MFT said...

I used to have a wall hanging in my office about the whole crisis/opportunity thing. I've heard more recently that it's not actually true, but haven't taken the time to verify or not, because it has become a bit of a cliche.

But, whatever package it's wrapped in, I do think it's a valuable message to remember at times like this!