There was an old farmer who had a herd of horses. One day, the horses broke through the fence and the whole herd ran off into the wild.
On hearing the unfortunate news, the old farmer’s neighbor came over and said, ‘This is really bad fortune for you.’ The old farmer simply replied, ‘Maybe.’
The next day, to everyone’s surprise, the herd returned but with a beautiful black stallion in their midst. This stallion was a valuable asset.
Again, the neighbor came over and said to the old farmer, ‘This is very good fortune for you.’ The farmer simply rejoined with ‘Maybe’.
The very next day, the farmer’s son tried to mount the new black stallion, fell, and broke his leg.
Once again, the neighbor appeared. ‘This is very bad fortune for you.’ Again, the farmer simply sighed and said, ‘Maybe.’
A week passed and the army came to the farmer’s village to press all the young men into service. The captain of the army came up to the old farmer and demanded that he hand over his only son.
Unfortunately, the farmer’s son was on crutches, nursing a badly broken leg and the army moved on to the next homestead.
A short story about fate: The moral
It takes humility to embrace fate. There is so much we can never know about how events will unfold. There are always unforeseen ways in which situations evolve—for good or for bad. However, the one thing which is true of both the good and the bad is that there are many factors we cannot control. In the face of outcomes we do not control, we must have the courage to let go. We have the humility to acknowledge that we don’t know exactly how things will play out and we have the courage to spare ourselves from useless worrying.
