Stale State of Mind

Long ago, there was an old man who lived in a village. Although very poor, he was the envy of many because he had a beautiful white horse. Kings had approached him and offered huge sums of money for the horse.

But the man would always say, "To me, this is not a horse. He is a person, a friend. How can you sell a friend?"

One morning, the man found his horse missing from the stable. The villagers gathered round and proclaimed, "You foolish old man! We knew that someday, the horse would be stolen. It would have been better if you had sold it. What a misfortune!"

He replied: "Don't go so far as to say that. Simply say that the horse is not in the stable. That's the fact; everything else is judgment. I don't know if it's a misfortune or blessing. Who knows what's going to happen next?"

People laughed at him. They'd always known that he was a little crazy. But after two weeks, suddenly one night, the horse returned.

He had not been stolen; he's just escape into the wild. And what's more, he brought a dozen wild horses back with him.

Again the people gathered and said: "Old man, you were right. It was not a misfortune. Indeed, it has proven to be a blessing."

"Again you are going too far," he answered. "Just say that the horse is back. Who knows whether it is a blessing or not? If you read a single word in a sentence, how can you judge the whole book?"

This time, the people could not say much, but deep inside, they thought he was wrong because he now had 13 beautiful horses.

The old man's only son began to train the horses. But a week later, the boy fell from a horse and broke his legs. The people gathered around once more and exclaimed: "Yes, you were right! It was a misfortune. Your son, who is your only support, has lost the use of his legs. Now you are poorer than ever."

"You are obsessed about passing judgment," the man said, "Don't go that far. Say only that my son has broken his legs. Life comprises of fragments and you don't get more than you can handle."

It happened that a few weeks later, the country went to war and all the young men in the village were conscripted by military. But the old man's son was spared because of his crippling leg injury.

The villagers wept because they knew theirs was a losing battle and that most of their young men would never come home.

They went to see the old man and said: "You were right. Your son's fall has proved to be blessing. He may be a cripple but he's still with you. Our sons are gone forever."

"You go on and on, judging. Nobody knows for sure! Only say this - Yous sons were forced to join the army while mine is not. Only God knows whether this is a blessing of misfortune."

Judgment reflects a stale state of mind. Once you start judging, you stop growing.

Sent to Starmag by Timmy Say