I've been listening to an audiobook and came across this. Very valuable and inspirational to me.
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“He asked, ‘Are you familiar with the concept of equanimity?…Equanimity is the idea that when things are going well, we are at peace. And when things are not going well, we are at peace. The ideal in a spiritual life is to be at peace with what is, and always react steadily.’ We must have looked dumbfounded. ‘Have you heard the story, ‘Maybe, Maybe not?’ Again, we answered no, so he told it to us.
“There was a farmer who used a great horse to help him on his farm. One day his horse ran away. His neighbors said to him, ‘Farmer, that is awful! You lost your horse!’ He replied, ‘Maybe, maybe not.’ Within a few days the farmer was surprised to find that the horse had returned, with three additional wild horses. The new horses could be quite useful on his farm. His neighbors marveled at his good fortune, ‘Farmer, you are so lucky! You now own several horses! You will work so much faster in your fields.’ The farmer replied, ‘Maybe, maybe not.’ The next day the farmer’s son tried to ride one of the wild horses but was bucked, resulting in a broken leg. The neighbors came to visit the farmer and said, ‘Farmer, this is tragic! Your son cannot walk!’ The farmer replied, ‘Maybe, maybe not.’ Soon an army troop stormed the town, kidnapping all of the town’s young men to press into service in their war. The troop was attacked and all of the town’s young men perished. The neighbors came to the farmer and said, ‘Farmer, you are so lucky! All of our sons have died, yet you still have yours because he was too injured to go with the soldiers.’ The farmer replied, ‘Maybe, maybe not.’”
Inconceivable: AMedical Mistake, the Baby We Couldn't Keep, and Our Choice to Deliver theUltimate Gift, by Carolyn Savage
