After reading a quote from Phil Mickelson, who won a golf tournament this weekend, I was reminded of a story. I’m not sure of the source of this story, but there was a farmer who used a horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped. The farmer’s neighbor came over to sympathize with him and told him how awful it must be to lose his horse. The farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”
When the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. The farmer’s reaction was, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”
Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg, they decided not to take him. Good luck or bad luck? Who knows?
Last year, Phil Mickelson was about to win a major golf tournament, when he hit a double bogey and lost the tournament. Here is his quote from yesterday:
“Winning today gives me satisfaction, I believe I can take what happened at Winged Foot and make it a plus for the rest of my career.”
Good luck, bad luck, who knows?