The Farmer and his Misfortune

There once was a farmer who had a great farm with much land and resources. His farm was very prosperous because he worked very hard, and he shared his prosperity with the local villagers often.

Because he was so generous, people thought of him as kind. He was a humble man, never boasting of his success. For that, people liked and respected him.

Because he was so successful in life, all the villagers thought him to be wise.

One morning he awoke, kissed his wife, had breakfast, and went to tend to his farm duties. As he passed the horse’s stable, he noticed the horse had escaped and run away.

Word of this reached the village and soon all the villagers came to offer their condolences to the farmer. He used his horse every day to tend his farm, and without the horse, his work would not get done.

The villagers all proclaimed to the farmer, “What a substantial loss to have lost your horse. Now you cannot get your work done. What a great misfortune.”

The farmer replied “Maybe”.

The next day, the farmer awoke, kissed his wife, had breakfast, and went to tend to his farm duties. As he entered the pasture, he looked up and saw his horse returning home. Behind him were eight more horses. This thrilled the farmer and gave thanks to the horse.

Word of this reached the village and soon all the villagers came to offer their congratulations to the farmer.

As the villagers inspected the horses, they all noticed that they were brilliant beasts of beauty and all very strong. Now a tremendous amount of work could be done by the farmer.

The villagers all proclaimed to the farmer, “How great is it that your horse returned with eight extra horses. Now you own nine horses! How very fortunate.”

The farmer again replied, “Maybe”.

The next day, the farmer awoke, kissed his wife, had breakfast, and went to tend to his farm duties. During the day, the farmer’s son decided to break in one horse that had arrived the day before against the will of his father.

As he climbed on the horse, the horse started bucking wildly. Soon, very soon, the son was thrown from the horse and suffered a broken leg from the fall.

Word of this reached the village and soon all the villagers came to offer their condolences to the farmer. “How tragic that your son has broken his leg. He is in pain and suffering. What great misfortune”.

The farmer again replied, “Maybe”.

The next day, agents from the military arrived in the village and called all the young men in the village and surrounding lands to assemble. They proclaimed that every young man old enough and capable of carrying a sword would be enlisted to serve in the war.

When the agent came up to the farmer’s son, he dismissed him, since he had broken his leg and it had not mended yet.

The villagers all proclaimed to the farmer, “How great is it that your son will not have to go to war and possibly die because of his broken leg. How very fortunate.”

The farmer again replied, “Maybe”.

This story is a metaphor for life. Life guarantees we will have pain and loss in our lives. Of this we can be sure.

We don’t know when.

We don’t know why.

We just know it will happen.

When it happens, like the farmer, if you have an optimistic attitude, a better day is right around the corner. Of this, I can guarantee.

My suggestion is to go through the pain. Learn from it. Grow from it. And own it.

Possibly you are in a terrible relationship. One that you are just trying to make work. One that takes sooo much effort that it exhausts you. Maybe it feels like you are attempting to put a square peg in a round hole. One that you feel you have to force it to work.

I want to encourage you to get out of it. Leave. Go through the pain it will cause and learn from it. Remember it. Stand on it, not in it.

By leaving the relationship you are not supposed to be in, which if you have to work that hard for it to work, you know it’s wrong; you open up the space for who you are supposed to be with to enter it.

Stop forcing things. Allow the natural flow of life to nourish you. By allowing life to happen as it is supposed to, we allow what is supposed to be in our lives to happen.

Remember, we are not in control, never have been, never will be. If you think you are, just ask the sun to stay out for an extra hour so you can get an extra hour of sleep. See how well that works. It won’t happen.

You can view my video version of this story on my Tik Tok page here: The Farmer and his Misfortune

Or my YouTube channel here: The Farmer and his Misfortune

You might also like this: IN ORDER TO LOVE SOMEONE WELL, YOU MUST LOVE YOURSELF, FIRST * 12 EASY STEPS TO LEARN HOW

And this one: WHY THE MESSAGE YOU MATTER, EVEN IF YOU DON’T THINK SO IS SO IMPORTANT NOW

If you have enjoyed this article, please visit me at www.JosephBinning.com for more helpful tips and articles.

You can also get more helpful information in my book You Matter, even if you don’t think so which you can purchase on Amazon here Amazon You Matter, even if you don’t think so

For my free report Happiness Is A Choice click here: Happiness Is A Choice Free Report

Remember: Happiness is a choice, so be happy.