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Doorways
of Support and Inspiration:
Surrender
and Acceptance
Good
Luck or Bad Luck? A Story
In China, philosophers believe that there is no such thing as "good
luck" or "bad luck." There is an acceptance of "what is."
Once upon a time an old man in China had one horse and one son.
One day the horse strayed and got lost. When the old man's neighbors
heard this, they went to tell the old man they were sorry about
his bad luck. "How do you know it is bad luck?" he asked.
Soon thereafter the horse returned, and he brought back with him
many wild horses. Now the neighbors came to congratulate the man
on his good luck. "How do you know it is good luck?" he asked.
With so many horses, the son took up riding. One day, he was thrown
and broke his leg. Once more, the neighbors came to the old man.
Once more, they expressed sorrow at his bad luck. Once more, he
asked, "How do you know it is bad luck?"
Very soon thereafter a war broke out and the military came to the
old man's village to draft all the young men into the army to fight.
Because of his broken leg, the old man's son did not have to go
to war.
Copyright
© 1999
Life Challenges
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