Good, bad. Who can tell?
The farmer replies: "Good, bad. Who can tell?" A month later, the horse came home--this time bringing with him two beautiful young wild mares. The neighbors became excited at the farmer's good fortune. Such lovely strong horses! The farmer said, "Good, bad. Who can tell?" The farmer's son was thrown from one of the wild horses and broke his leg. All the neighbors were very distressed. Such bad luck! The farmer shrugged, "Good, bad. Who can tell?" Then the soldiers came and conscripted every able-bodied young man. Only the farmer's son, because he had a broken leg, remained. The neighbors congratulated the farmer. "Good? Bad?" |
|
|
| I post this parable as I really find myself thinking about it frequently when struggling with issues about what to do.
Marianne had a similar but analagous problem trying to decide which animal to rescue or foster, if any. I can't save them all, which should I help? If I help this one, what will happen to that one? Maybe that one will have a better chance at being adopted than this one. I once got a job that came with a car, so I got rid of my working junker and a few months later I was out of work -- and out of a car, with no money to buy another. Good? Bad? I was returning the company car ( a couple of week late...) and had to catch a train home. I met my wife that day; she was applying for my old job, and really caught my eye. I caught up to her as we were both walking to the train station. We've been married 20 years. Good? Bad?  lol
Nobody can know the ultimate outcomes of their actions, nobody can tell what is a good situation and what is a bad situation. How do we keep our sanity? |
| Very thought provoking post.....
I think all we can do is to try our best to make the right decisions and choices... always keeping in mind there are reactions to every action at some point. Good or bad we won't really know, we can only hope. |
| Yes it is a thought provoking post.
That's life isn't it? We all make decisions, somtimes good other times bad! We are all individuals and part of life is learning to make decisions whether they turn out good or bad is just part of learning and growing into the individuals we are today.
We learn hopefully from the bad choices and flourish from the good ones 
No one is perfect and no one has all the answers in choices we make in life.  |
| I whole heartedly believe everything happens for a reason. Good and bad - those things lead you down the path you're supposed to take, matures you, and teaches you life lessons you wouldn't learn otherwise.
I know I've had more than my fair share of "trials" during my past 27 years (okay, mostly the last 7 years), but I've learned through each of them and have become stronger and more involved. Myy faith became greater after a few angry hurdles, and I have become a more mature person as I've endured each experience. Although I had no control over this, even the worst of my experiences led to something good. If we hadn't gone through that, I wouldn't have Brandon today. We would have stopped at two children. I just can't imagine my life without waking up and seeing his smiling face staring at me every morning waiting on a hug and kiss. I've been in awe watching everything he had to overcome from his premature birth and then hitting all of his milestones early even for a term baby...which amazed me when the doctors weren't giving him much hope for survival. It's been a rollercoaster journey, but he really is my ray of sunshine and I'm so proud to be his mom. I can not possibly imagine our family without him. That whole experience affirmed to me that even in our darkest hours, bright lights are just around the corner. |
| It may not be easy to see what ultimate good will occur when you're facing a bad situation, but in hindsight, you can't imagine it any other way, or can't imagine how you could have gotten to the final point without all the ones in between.
My example: Neither my husband nor I are college graduates. I'm an admin assistant (new term for secretary) and he's always been a salesman. We have never had the incentive to move to another location for work, mainly because our family is all here. However, we are also of the generation that believed that you stay with a company from hire to retire. It represented stability, a steady income, benefits, a nice pension to look forward to. All things crucial when you're raising a family. Of course, over the last 20 years or so, a lot of companies don't care about employee loyalty, just their bottom line. I'm fortunate that the company that I've worked for for the past 26 years is still pretty stable. Not to say there haven't been lay-offs and such, but not as much as others. When I was 5 months pregnant with Spencer (my firstborn), Dale lost his job right before Christmas. We were devastated! We didn't look at it as good luck or bad luck, it was just definitely BAD. I was facing leaving work for awhile after Spencer was born - then what would we do? Well, one of Dale's customers was so outraged that he lost his job, that he opened an office furniture store in our area and hired Dale to manage it. Good or bad? The store was the owner's second store, but was more involved than the first one and was so hastily put together due to the circumstances that it needed a LOT of work to manage and keep it going. It provided an okay income for us for 2 years and we were extremely grateful to the owner for helping us out when we desperately needed it. Through this store Dale made more contacts and went to work for another office furniture / office supply store as an outside salesman, complete with company car. While he was in this job, Sarah was born. That lasted another two years until the big chains starting infringing on the smaller guys. By leaving this job, we also lost the company car and had to buy a second car.  Good or bad?
Again, through contacts from this job, he took a job as an outside seller of commercial cleaning products. Didn't like this job and left after 9 months.  Good or bad?
Once again through contacts from the prior job, he went to work for Weyerhauser as an outside seller. We thought - wow! This is it! Weyerhauser is a huge company and it should be stable. It was - for 6 years. Then they decided to close a bunch of their off-site locations. Again, this was right before Christmas. Good or bad?
While at Weyerhauser, he worked with a guy who went to work for another lumber company. When he heard Dale lost his job, he went to his boss and insisted that he hire Dale. Although for less money, it was a job when he needed it and he gave it his all. After about 18 mos, he knew this was a dead-end job and left. Good or bad?
And once again through contacts, he went to yet another lumber company as an outside seller. Problem was that their headquarters was about a 90 drive from us and he had to be in the office more often than not. The pay was MUCH better than the prior job, so he just stuck it out because very shortly we would have a child who was going to college.  Good or bad?
Ultimately, (how else?) through a fellow employee, he went to the company he now has been working for for the past 7 years. This is where he'll retire from. It's a great company, employee owned, privately held. It has given us the opportunity to put 2 kids through college relatively painlessly. SO - how do we view things? It was an emotional roller coaster all through the years with his job losses and changes while we were trying to raise the kids and keep our heads above water, but if we hadn't done each step, we wouldn't be where we are today. All in all, I would have to consider each step, however painful it was to go through at that moment, as good!  |
| I also believe that things happen for a reason. We have three voices we listen to in situations that require us to make a choice. The first is the voice of God (good), second is the voice of Satan (bad), and the third voice we hear is our own.
Example: You're in the check out line at the gas station. You buy gas and a couple other things. You've already told the cashier how much gas you got, but when she tells you the total you know its wrong. The gas wasn't included. There you stand with the choice of telling her, or not. Voice #1 says, "You know you should tell her, that's not right." Voice #2 says, "Keep it, you sure could use it!" Voice #3 says, ".......the choice........." The choice is our responsibility, and with that choice comes consequences or rewards. I think we know the right choice to make, but when we fail to do so, we get in God's way of blessing us. The blessing will eventually come, but won't have the same impact as it would've at the time, thus life experiences and lessons. But, what about those things we have no control over, such as a lost job. No choice available for us to make. The thing about that is, that it was "someone elses" choice, and we fall victim to their consequences, just as others do ours. But, in the end, God (good) prevails. jmop |
| Gail - you took the words right out of my mouht, I'm not a believer, but I do beleive everything happens for a reason and out of something bad always comes something good - karma |
| 11 years ago I had just gone through a divorce a year earlier was a single mother with two small boys and I discovered I had uterine and ovarian cancer. Had to work to support the boys at the same time going through chemo and radiation treatments. I had lost an extreme amount of weight, bald, and so sick that after working during the day and taking care of the kids just not physically able to go out and was craving some adult human conversation. (Good/Bad ?) Went online to a friends chat room and starting talking to this man that lived in New Jersey. 11 years later - his name is Joe and he is my husband and the love of my life.
I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason and I may not know the reason. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|