Have you heard the Taoist fable about the farmer? There was a farmer whose horse had ran away. The townsfolk gathered around the farmer and said:
Oh your horse ran away! What a terrible luck you have!
To which the farmer replied:
We’ll see.
Several days later, the horse returned with three wild horses. The townsfolk gathered around and said:
Oh wow! You have acquired three more horses! What great luck you have.
To which the farmer replied:
We’ll see.
A couple days after that, the farmer’s son fell off one of the wild horses whilst trying to tame it and broke his leg. The townsfolk gathered around and said:
Your son! His leg is broken, he’ll never walk straight again. What terrible luck you have. To which the farmer replied:
We’ll see.
A couple days later a draft officer showed up at the village to draft men into the army to go to war with a competing tribe, the farmer’s son was omitted from the draft because of his broken leg. The townsfolk gathered around and said:
What wonderful luck you have, surely your son would have died in conflict if he hadn’t broken his leg…