Pick-Up 043: The Best Thing that Could Happen
Hello friends,
As always, I hope this email finds you well.
The classrooms in my secondary school used to have this one-step stage at the front. I don’t know if was there to ease things for us, short people at the time, in order to reach the blackboard that usually hangs high for the student at the back to be able to see or if it was more for the teachers to keep an eye on the naughty ones at the back (It was a public school!)
I used to have this violent intrusive thought of someone walking up to the front and stumbling on that one step and breaking a jaw or a tooth. I would cringe every time it crosses my mind and quickly try to chase the image away.
This week, I stumbled upon this quote by Walt Disney.
“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
It is not a new concept for me and I don’t think it is for you either. I’m already a “Maybe it’s for the best!” strong believer but as I always say, it’s good to be reminded. The quote resonated with me not only for its wisdom but also for addressing that same incident I used to worry about.
It’s the occasion to share this famous (so you probably already know it) 2000-year-old parable of the Chinese farmer. Here is a retelling of it by Evelyn Theiss.
A Chinese farmer gets a horse, which soon runs away. A neighbor says, "That's bad news." The farmer replies, "Good news, bad news, who can say?"
The horse comes back and brings another horse with him. Good news, you might say.
The farmer gives the second horse to his son, who rides it, then is thrown and badly breaks his leg."So sorry for your bad news," says the concerned neighbor. "Good news, bad news, who can say?" the farmer replies.
In a week or so, the emperor's men come and take every able-bodied young man to fight in a war. The farmer's son is spared.
Good news, of course.
Well, not so sure if it’s good news either. This can go on and on and on... There is no way to know what the consequences of an event will be. Only time will tell, and meanwhile, all we can do is choose one thing: our attitude.
Take good care. Xx
📚 The Sphere of Books
I love quotes. They usually say the thing so well, sometimes in a witty way, that we wish we'd said it. “Don’t Forget to Sing in the Lifeboats: Uncommon Wisdom for Uncommon Times” is a book I’m currently reading with basically just quotes and a title for each one as to which subjects or theme it addresses. Guess you shall wait for a load of’em from me in the upcoming weeks. I’ll post them on Instagram, so stay tuned.
💭 This Week’s Quote
“Every day is a gift—even if it sucks."
― Sherry Hochman.
Thanks for Reading!
Thoughts and feedback on the newsletter or anything covered within are always welcome, just hit reply or leave me a public comment by clicking the little icon below the title. I enjoy replying to those as well.
As always, I appreciate you. ❤️
Stay curious and have a great week
Meriem.