9 October 2006
No Matter How Negative an Event May Seem, It Has NO MEANING
Let me tell you a story that will PROVE to you, without a doubt, that an event has no meaning…
A farmer lived with his son raising horses and vegetables in the days of ancient China. One day the son broke his leg.
The townspeople expressed their sadness by saying “You must be very distressed about your son’s leg, for now you must work the farm alone.”
The farmer replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”
As the son’s leg was healing, the Emperor declared war and drafted all the young men for battle, but the farmer’s son was rejected because of his broken leg.
The townspeople heard about this and said to the farmer, “You must be very happy about your son’s condition for it saved him from going to war!”
The farmer replied, “Maybe, maybe not.”
As the son limped around the farm doing his chores, he accidentally left the gate open one night and all 100 horses ran away.
The next day, townspeople came out and said to the farmer, “It is so sad that you lost all your livestock. Now you will make very little money.”
The farmer replied “Maybe, maybe not.”
News came to the farmer that the war was over and the Emperor decided to hold a lottery and redistribute all the livestock.
The farmer drew the long straw and received 500 head of horses. The town’s people rallied around him and said, “You must be very happy now that you have prospered so richly!”
…and what did the farmer say?
The farmer knows something that few people will ever understand. Events themselves have no meaning except the meaning you give them.
The Chinese farmer decided that he would not let his emotions carry him high or low.
He simply controlled what he could, stayed calm and let events take their course.
He did not let events control him because he knew a secret: Events have no meaning until they are “inside you”.
With this idea in mind, hopefully you will be a little more reluctant to label any event that takes place as being good or bad.
Approach events as the Chinese farmer does: “Maybe, maybe not.”
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Everything That Happens Around you is an EVENT.
These Events Have No Meaning, UNTIL…
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Most people quickly label events as either being “good” or “bad” but events themselves do not have a negative or positive meaning.
Let me explain…
Let’s say that an unpopular uncle shows up at your annual family reunion.
You might hear family members say “Oh no…here comes Uncle Eddy. You know what that means!”
These family members are acting as if Uncle Eddy is a bad event, regardless of Eddy’s current situation.
They are convinced that since Eddy was connected to a BAD event in the past, he must be BAD today.
If this were true, the stock market would not require sellers to tell buyers this statement: “Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.”
If someone says the words “PLANE CRASH” we immediately think it is a negative event, but what if the plane was unmanned and built to test a device that could save people’s lives?
Then we think of it as a GOOD event.
It is your emotional reaction to an event that makes it good or bad, not the event itself.
The same event can be viewed as bad for one person but good for another…
Homework, surgery, spoiled milk, rainy day, new car, birthday, wedding…
Are they GOOD or BAD?
They can’t be labeled because it all depends on how each person views the event.
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Just remember that events themselves have no meaning. There are no “good events” or “bad events”.
It is a decision that takes place inside you. But the real question is: How do you CHANGE your reaction to an event?
Well, here’s something that will help you with that.
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