E-tip #40 – Good or Bad?

28^th August 2006

 

Last thursday, after 7 weeks of progress, the sale of my house abruptly fell through, just as I was expecting to exchange contracts.

My initial thoughts were bugger! More hassle selling my house!

And then I thought of something that Michelle Lisenbury Christensen (www.successandspirit.com) writes in her (free) e-book The 10 biggest Spiritual mistakes I’ve made in business.  It’s a great read.  I recommend it.

She recounts the tale of a horse trainer, who when something happens, decides I don’t know whether this is good or bad.  The story goes:

One day a wild stallion takes up residence with him and his neighbors say, “Oh, this is bad! You’ll never train him.” The man replies that he doesn’t know whether this is good or bad. The stallion does take to the training, and the neighbors exclaim what good news this is. The man replies that he doesn’t know whether this is good or bad. One day the stallion runs away. The neighbors chatter that this is a terrible loss. The man replies that he doesn’t know whether this is good or bad. Soon, the stallion returns, bringing with him three other wild horses. The neighbors are ecstatic with this wonderful news. The man comments that he doesn’t know whether this is good or bad. The man’s son sets about training the new horses. One of them throws him and breaks the young man’s leg in several places. The neighbors grieve, saying “We knew those wild horses were a bad thing!” The father simply shakes his head and says that he doesn’t know whether this is good or bad. The neighboring nation invades, and the man’s homeland institutes a draft of young men to fight in the war. The son is ineligible to fight because of his injuries. The neighbors rejoice again, saying what a blessing this is.

And you can guess what the father says…

 

How many times when you think about it now that something that you thought at the time was bad turned out later to be good?  For example, not getting a job you thought you wanted and then a better one comes along.

And to remind you, when you’re spending time doing something you don’t like doing, you’re giving up time spent on stuff you love doing, or creating the opportunity for something better to come along.

Today’s experiment

·         Just for today, when something happens during the day that would normally disappoint you, remind yourself I don’t know whether this is good or bad and then just notice what happens

 

And remember, whatever you do, have fun too!

Anthony

©Anthony Davis 2006. All rights reserved