Good News, Bad News, Who Knows!

Musings

There is a farmer who wakes up one morning, and finds 3 wild horses have wondered into his corral. His neighbours say, “Oh, what good news.”

He says, “Well, good news, bad news, who knows.”

His son, who is a robust young man, tries to tame the horses, but is thrown from one of them and breaks his leg. His neighbours say, “What terrible fortune.”

He says, “Well, good news, bad news, who knows.”

A little later, the army comes through, conscripting young men for a big battle. They find that the son cannot join the army because of the broken leg.

“Well, good news, bad news, who knows.”

This story has been told many times with varying details, but the message is always the same. Life happens, and it’s not necessarily what comes our way, but how we relate and respond to it. What may appear to be dreadful, may actually be a doorway to something profoundly different, and better than we could have imagined.

There are events that are deeply devastating, such as the passing of a loved one. By giving ourselves permission to feel the feelings of the event, and go inward to look for that which is, rather than isn’t, we may meet ourselves in the moment,

in a loving and new way.

Another story that illustrates the above goes as follows: A woman visits a guru for some advice. She’s complaining about her family and how they don’t listen to her. She’s complaining about her job, and how it’s not really satisfying, and how she’s not being acknowledged. She’s complaining about the lack of savings for her old age. She’s complaining about her lower back issues, her aching feet, and her poor digestion.

The guru says, “These are a lot of problems.

Now tell me, where is the one who has these problems?”

So, where is the true and real you amidst the quagmire of life? How do you find that one that sees, “good news, bad news, who knows?”

I believe we find this ‘one’ on our yoga mat and mediation cushion. We find it when our feet walk the solid ground of the earth, in reverence for the gift of our lives. We find it when we pause to watch raindrops fall from verdant spring leaves. We find it in a breath that uncoils us from the tension of despair to the freedom of loving.

“Narrow your life down to this moment. Your life situation may be full of problems - most life situations are - but find out if you have a problem at this moment.

Do you have a problem now?” Eckart Tolle

Consider observing what happens when you allow the time spent on your yoga mat, your meditation cushion, or sacred solid ground, to reframe the moment.

“Good news, bad news, who knows!”

Jai Bhagwan