Good Luck? Bad Luck? Wisdom Teaches

We can only see in hindsight, so why judge our future?

The world is ever changing. Your life is ever changing. Events happen that we label “good luck” and others happen that we quickly label “bad luck”.
But are we right? 

One of my favorite folk proverbs is something that’s a great reminder when the going gets crazy. I’m sharing it with you now because, unless you’re a hermit living crouched over in a damp cave in the far Chinese mountains (where this proverb probably originated), you are fully aware of the wild times we are living amongst today.

(Times so wild, that damp hermit cave I just mentioned may have sounded good to you.)

But first, let’s balance the ancient Chinese wisdom, with an ancient Chinese curse (not directed at anyone, no need to duck):

“May you live in interesting times”

Well my friends, we certainly live in interesting times! 

But is this bad luck, is it good luck? How do we judge the swirling whirlwind around us? The hurricane of national events and personal events each of us most certainly are experiencing right now.

Well. Perhaps we shouldn’t judge them at all? In a life guaranteed to change, isn’t judging any event’s impact on our future, just another full time job?

Before we continue, let me weave this proverb for you; Lest I muddy the waters of your mind before they have a chance to flow. Travel with me through time, to a small agrarian village in china: 

•••

Long ago, A kind old man lived in a village outside the Great Wall of China. He had only two passions in his life: his beautiful horse and his beloved son.

He and his son rode the horse every day. This horse was not only his family’s pride and joy, but it was also a means of income.

But one rainy morning, a servant carelessly left the stable door open and this old man’s favorite stallion escaped. When the neighbors heard the news of the horse’s escape, they visited to comfort the old man, feeling awfully for him. They knew he had just lost something very dear to him, and it could mean a tragic descent into poverty for he and his son. They consoled him sincerely, “We are so sorry for your bad luck!” 

The old man enjoyed a deep breath and calmly looked over his fields, “Good luck, bad luck…who can tell? There was no way to predict the horse would escape. It is as it is. There is nothing we can do. My horse is gone.” 

This shocked the villagers into silence, and they walked back to their homes, utterly perplexed. 

A few days later, the old man’s horse returned, pounding the ground to his home with a pack of 12 wild horses following behind him! The villagers rushed to the old man’s home, ready to offer congratulations at such great fortune. After all, now the man was 12 horses richer! 

But the old man simply peered over at the new horses, “ Good luck, bad luck…who can tell? I see 12 new horses that have appeared. I did nothing to earn this. It is as it is.” 

The next week, the old man’s beloved son fell off one of the new horses and broke both his legs so badly that doctors told him he would walk with a limp for the rest of his life. The villagers ran to help the family and lament at such terrible misfortune. “How will  you, a feeble old man, harvest your crops now? Your family will starve! You should sell all your horses or kill the horse that did this to your son, in case it is bad luck!” 

“Good luck, Bad luck…who can tell? My son’s legs are broken. It was an accident. No one knew it would happen and no one could have prevented it. That is all I know. It is as it is.” 

The villagers, completely frustrated by this time, walked away dissatisfied with the old man’s seeming non-chalance and unwillingness to recognize his misfortune to their standards. “He’s crazy, let’s ignore him.” They grumbled.

A few years later, a war broke out that took many lives. The government traveled to all the villages forcing all able bodied men to join the war. They took all the sons of the village, except the old man’s beloved son who was spared because of his injuries from the horse long ago. 

Good luck, bad luck…who can tell? It is as it is. 

•••

We can only see in hindsight, so why judge our future?

We are quick to judge because we are quick to switch into survival mode. “What’s going to happen?” Echoes and rattles around in the stalactites of our nervous brains. We want to predict and react well; it’s a natural desire.
But sometimes things are better seen for what they are now, rather than what they could be in the future.

“It is as it is.”

Look at your own life. What events in your life occurred that you once thought were great luck, but turned out a little differently than expected? What events did you think were terrible – awful – no good – rotten luck, that turned out far better than you expected? Maybe even great?

This may feel weird and like we aren’t in control.
Spoiler alert: Most of the times, we aren’t in control as much as we think.

Control is largely an illusion. Judgement is often a product of our desire for control.

All we can do is take the information we have at hand, and do the best we can with it. Take a positive step with whatever you’re dealing with in life, even if that is a small step. Don’t take credit for the things you can’t or couldn’t affect, “good” or “bad”. There may be something bigger at work than you, let it work. Handle your moments well and with the most wisdom you can muster. Leave the rest.

It is as it is.

This is easier said than done. I have to remind myself of this quite often. Im currently dealing with health issues. They are affecting the speed in which I do my work, as well as the energy. For a person like me, this is frustrating. Especially when I generally work hard to be a healthy person! This is just one of the obstacles I’m facing right now, that “is as it is”. But man oh man do I want to start taking a roll call of all the little things I could have done better to not be here. Nit pick the crap out of it. Rather than focus on the now, and deal with what “is”. Can you relate?

I also have the balance of wonderful blessings (which includes you reading this, my friend.) Some are directly because of my efforts. Many are not. Im typing this on computer tech I didn’t build, in an age where we can speak with potentially millions of people around the world through internet I didn’t create, about a proverb thousands of years old, from a free country I was simply BORN into and didn’t earn — And those are just a few rather incredible blessings!

So, is this good luck or bad luck? Perhaps my health issues are forcing me to slow a bit (and I’m being too stubborn to listen fully). Perhaps something “bad” will happen because of it. Perhaps something “good” will happen because of it. But all I can do is make good choices with the information at hand that “is”, when the events come, and leave the rest to “be” and unfold.

It is as it is.

Im certain im not alone. Im certain you are thinking of your own obstacles and blessings as I write.  Life is full of events, and we all love labeling them. In fact, its hard not to as I write this. It’s so ingrained in us.
Run into road construction when you’re running late? Almost all of us hit our steering wheels in anger about our “bad luck”. This is human. But maybe it just saved us from a terrible car accident we would have had, had we been on time. This is hard to measure, and good to keep in perspective.

When anything happens: Thinking the world is over is just as bad as thinking the world has just begun. Good luck vs bad luck is just as extreme. Sometimes:

It is as it is.

Ground yourself in the slightly uncomfortable but peaceful knowledge that – you don’t have it all figured out. You can’t have it all figured out. And that is why it’s totally okay that you don’t have it all figured out. 

We are not placed on this earth to have it all figured out.
Good luck, bad luck, who can tell?

Stay Sharp,
Kirsten 

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