Years ago I heard a famous motivational trainer, Tony Robbins, speak about how we accept or reject events. Most of us, when given positive or negative news, react accordingly. For example, someone gives us bad news, we automatically think of negative consequences, and the opposite is also true. But what we seldom do is think about the other side of the event.
The story he told went something like this:
There once was an old man in a small village and was the envy of the villagers because he owned a beautiful white stallion. When approached by his fellow villagers about his good fortunate, the old man would simply reply ‘ah, maybe.’
As luck would have it, the horse ran off one day and the villagers commented on how unlucky the old man became; the old man only replied with ‘ah, maybe.’ A few days passed, and the stallion returned with three wild female horses. The villagers couldn’t believe his good luck; he had a valuable horse that ran off, and now when the stallion returned, he has four horses instead of just one. The old man again replied to this event as he always did with ‘ah, maybe.’
The old man had a son, who had a desire to tame the wild horses. Unfortunately the only thing he broke was his legs. Now the villagers spoke about the old man’s misfortune. The old man continued with his statement of ‘ah, maybe.’
Shortly thereafter, the local village engaged in war with a distant village; all of the young men went off to battle except the old man’s son who was unable to fight due to his broken legs. When the elders said to the old man how lucky he was, he simply paused and said, ‘yes, maybe.’ And, the story continues.
The moral of the story is we never know what an event has in store for us. The old adage ‘there is a silver lining behind every cloud’ can be true. Although, when we are deep in the pain of trauma, it could be a lot harder to see a potential benefit. Generally speaking, it’s mostly our attitude that holds us back. Perhaps its fear or anger, but those who get to the other side successfully usually do so because they looked for opportunity and goodness that might come out of a tough situation.
Today, we are faced with a lot of questions. How we get to the other side will depend on our courage and resilience. We wish all of you good health, and when the time is right for you to pursue a different home, we will be here for you. Call or text 605.359.4100
Tony Ratchford, The Ratchford Group, KW Realty Sioux Falls
