Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Once upon a time there was a farmer whose horse ran away.

That evening, all of his neighbours came around to commiserate. They said, “We’re 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 three 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 four 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 neighbours then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad.”

And the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day, officers came to the village to conscript young men into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg.

Again all the neighbours came around and said, “Isn’t that great!”

Again, he said, “Maybe.”

The Power To Choose

Now, I’ve always loved this story… how it changes your mind each time it reveals new information.

It shows us so clearly that what something means to us is based on the way we’re looking at it.

This, to me, suggests a freedom and power we have to choose what things mean to us…

Whether they are events, situations, people’s actions, anything…

We may have a knee-jerk, automatic reaction… our first thought about it…

But, if we want, we can take a fresh look, a new perspective and choose something that maybe feels better to us, that supports us in taking more productive, useful action.

We must remember that…

Nothing has any meaning apart from the meaning we give it.

Meaning Determines Everything!

You see, meaning doesn’t live out there in things and circumstances, it lives within us, in our minds… it’s the thought we have ABOUT something.

We decide, consciously or unconsciously, what things mean to us.

And meaning is everything.

Meaning determines how we feel about things, the decisions we make and the actions we take.

The meanings we choose determine the direction and quality of our lives.

Meaning determines everything.

Think Again

So, if you don’t like what something means to you, you have the power to think again.

Consider it from a different perspective, take a wider view, consider other information… you get to decide.

So, don’t be brought down by your circumstances and what they apparently mean… use the power we have to choose what things mean to us to feel better about your life!