This slogan reminds me of the story of the farmer. I have this version from The Marginalian:
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, "We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate." The farmer said, "Maybe." The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, "Oh, isn't that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!" The farmer again said, "Maybe." The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, "Oh dear, that's too bad," and the farmer responded, "Maybe." The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, "Isn't that great!" Again, he said, "Maybe."
The farmer steadfastly refrained from thinking of things in terms of gain or loss, advantage or disadvantage, because one never knows... In fact we never really know whether an event is fortune or misfortune, we only know our ever-changing reactions to everchanging events.
(The Yin-Yang of Fortune and Misfortune: Alan Watts on the Art of Learning Not to Think in Terms of Gain and Loss:)
This is a very important teaching because it is so easy for us to judge a situation, an event, anything prematurely. I can contribute an example from my life.
During my studies at university I applied for a scholarship to study in Iceland. I applied at least two times but didn't get the scholarship. I was very disappointed of course. But I had to spend time in a Scandinavian country as part of the curriculum so I said: "I'll take whatever I can get" and ended up in Sweden and that turned out to be a perfect fit. So I experienced this teaching myself: you never know whether something is good or bad until much later. While you still don't know how things play out, be patient.
This slogan reminds me of the story of the farmer. I have this version from The Marginalian:
Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors came around to commiserate. They said, "We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate." The farmer said, "Maybe." The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, "Oh, isn't that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!" The farmer again said, "Maybe." The following day his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, "Oh dear, that's too bad," and the farmer responded, "Maybe." The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, "Isn't that great!" Again, he said, "Maybe."
The farmer steadfastly refrained from thinking of things in terms of gain or loss, advantage or disadvantage, because one never knows... In fact we never really know whether an event is fortune or misfortune, we only know our ever-changing reactions to everchanging events.
(The Yin-Yang of Fortune and Misfortune: Alan Watts on the Art of Learning Not to Think in Terms of Gain and Loss:)
This is a very important teaching because it is so easy for us to judge a situation, an event, anything prematurely. I can contribute an example from my life.
During my studies at university I applied for a scholarship to study in Iceland. I applied at least two times but didn't get the scholarship. I was very disappointed of course. But I had to spend time in a Scandinavian country as part of the curriculum so I said: "I'll take whatever I can get" and ended up in Sweden and that turned out to be a perfect fit. So I experienced this teaching myself: you never know whether something is good or bad until much later. While you still don't know how things play out, be patient.