Who Knows

Hi
Friends,

I have never sent a
follow-up newsletter before, so bear with me.  Every month people
respond to the newsletter, so getting responses is a regular and welcome
occurrence.  However, this past week the number of replies to the June
letter has been phenomenal. The letter goes out to just over 200 people
who live in 18 different states in the U.S., as well as a number of
people in Canada. It made me realize once again that the human
experience is, after all, very human!

I wanted
to send you this great parable that was sent to me in response to the
newsletter—ENJOY!

 

 

Long
ago, there was an old farmer living on the outskirts of a little

village.
He was quite poor, possessing only a small piece of land, a

small
house in which he lived with his only son, and one horse.

 

One day, the horse broke out of the corral
and ran away.  The neighbors

came over to console the farmer.  They said,
“Oh this is so terrible!

Your were poor before, but now you’re
destitute.  What bad luck!  This is

the worst thing that could have happened.”

 

The old farmer shrugged his shoulders and
gently said, “Who knows what’s

good and what’s bad?”

 

The farmer fixed the fence and left the gate
open.  The next day, his

horse came back and went right into the
corral, followed by a whole herd

of wild horses.  The neighbors came over to
congratulate him.  They said,

“Oh, this is so wonderful!  You were the
poorest man in the village and

now you’re the richest.  What good fortune!
This is the best thing that

could have happened.”

 

The old farmer shrugged his shoulders and
again said, “Who knows what’s

good and what’s bad.”

 

The next day, his son was working to tame the
new horses.  One of them

bucked and he fell off, breaking his leg.
The neighbors came over and

said, “Oh, this is so terrible!  Now your son
is hurt, the horses can’t be

tamed, and you have no one to help you
harvest your crop.  What bad luck!

This is the worst thing that could have
happened.”

 

The old farmer shrugged his shoulders and
once more said, “Who knows

what’s good and what’s bad?”

 

And the next day, the king’s army came
through the countryside, taking all

the able-bodied young men off to battle,
where they were almost sure to

die.  But because the old farmer’s son’s leg
was hurt, he wasn’t taken

along.  So who knows what’s good and what’s
bad?

Shelli
Stein, Fitness and Nutrition Specialist