Mindset story: Who's to say if it's Bad luck or good luck?

An elderly Chinese peasant farmer had a horse that he loved very much and depended on for almost everything. In the spring when it was time to plant, the farmer would hitch a plow to the horse and plow the land. When the fall harvest would come, the farmer would hitch the wagon to the horse and take his produce to the market to sell. Whenever the farmer had to travel, he would put a saddle on the horse and ride it. Every day in one way or another, this beloved horse was a big and dramatic part of the farmer’s life and the lives of the villagers since they would often ask the farmer for help. Then one afternoon the horse ran away. Since the farmer lived in a small village, the word quickly spread amongst the villagers that he had lost his horse. For the next several days, whenever the farmer met any of his neighbors, they would say, “I’m so sorry to hear about your bad luck in losing your horse,” and he would just shrug his shoulders and say, “Who’s to say if it’s Bad luck or Good luck?”

Well, lo and behold, six days later his horse returned from the mountains with a couple of wild horses that it had met. The farmer was able to corral all of them and, of course, the news spread quickly throughout the village. For the next several days, whenever he met any of his fellow villagers, they would say, “Sure glad to hear about your good luck getting all those horses.” The farmer would just shrug his shoulders and respond, “Who’s to say if it’s Bad luck or Good luck?”

The farmer’s son was also excited about their new horses. He quickly began breaking them in so that his family could sell them for a big profit. But one of the horses threw him off, and the son’s leg was broken in three places. The son was unable to walk. He was hurt so badly that he needed constant help from his family, which meant that there were two pairs of working hands less. Word spread through the village and so for the next several days the villagers would say, “Sure sorry to hear about your boy. That was just bad luck.” Again, the farmer would just shrug his shoulders and respond, “Who’s to say if it’s Bad luck or Good luck?”

Two weeks later, a war broke out between the city-states of interior China. The army came through conscripting every able-bodied male under the age of fifty to go and fight, and, of course, the farmer’s son would have been in that category had the accident not happened. Because he had a broken leg, he didn’t have to go, and that turned out to be very fortunate because every villager who was conscripted ended up being killed in the war.  Again all the villagers that saw the farmer had to tell him their thoughts about the matter, “That was good luck, unlucky for most of us we didn’t have it.” Again, the farmer would just shrug his shoulders and respond, “Who’s to say if it’s Bad luck or Good luck?”