by Stingray

My life is completely meaningless? Huh?

What are you saying here, Stingray dude?!

I thought this blog was supposed to be a positive and uplifting place. Why an article on this dark, depressing thought? What's going on???

More...

Don't worry. I think you misunderstood something fundamental about life, that's all. Many people do 🙂

What I was trying to say was that the events that happen to you in life are completely neutral. It is only you that decide that things are going right or wrong.

In other words, the events of your life are meaning-Less.

An old Taoist story illustrates the point perfectly...

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Long ago, there lived a farmer at the edge of a small village. One day, his best horse broke through the fence and ran away. The farmer's neighbors came to visit and give him their condolences for his loss. "Such bad luck!" they said sympathetically.                                                                                                       

"Maybe." replied the farmer.                                                                                                                                                                                                              His neighbors were puzzled by his response. The next day, the horse came back, and with it, followed two new wild horses. The neighbors, hearing the news, visited the farmer again. "Wow, such good luck you have!"                                                                                                        

"Maybe" said the farmer.                                                                                                  

That day, the farmer's son, while attempting to ride one of the wild horses, fell and broke his leg. "Oh, how unfortunate!" the neighbors said.                               

"Maybe" the farmer replied.                                                                                    

The following day, a military brigade marched through the village on the way to war, drafting all the young men in the village for their army. They noticed the farmer's son's broken leg, and did not draft the wounded young man. "Such good luck!" said the neighbors.                                                                               

"Maybe" said the farmer.

...and the story just goes on and on, just like your life does.

So when "bad" things happen to you in life, before getting upset about them, perhaps it's worth thinking about whether something "bad" has really happened. Or whether, like in the story, it's just another opportunity for something "good" to manifest.

One final thing for you to consider - and this was actually a helpful life-changing thought that I was given when going through some dark times many years ago.

The thought is this...

What is the difference between a problem and a challenge?



Photo by zeevveez

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