The outcome is not the outcome. The end is not the end.
Someone whose mind I admire immensely quoted this fable as one of their favourites:
A farmer had only one horse. One day, his horse ran away. His neighbours said, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.”
The man just said, “We’ll see.”
A few days later, his horse came back with twenty wild horses following. The man and his son corralled all 21 horses. His neighbours said, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!”
The man just said, “We’ll see.”
One of the wild horses kicked the man’s only son, breaking both his legs. His neighbours said, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.”
The man just said, “We’ll see.”
The country went to war, and every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed every young man, but the farmer’s son was spared, since his broken legs prevented him from being drafted. His neighbours said, “Congratulations! This is such good news. You must be so happy!”
The man just said, “We’ll see.”
Just a couple of days ago I heard Neil Strauss quoting the same fable on a podcast, adding: The outcome is not the outcome. The end is not the end.
We measure our life by end points but they are not real end points. The truth is you don’t know. You will see. Keep moving forward. You don’t know.
We wait for so many thing to finally happen but somehow we rarely experience a cathartic closure of a true end (think: break up, getting a degree, quitting a job, buying a house, selling a house, saying good bye to someone) because there is no true end. Life keeps moving and doesn’t care what you measure it by. Keep moving forward with it. You will see.
