Ahwatukee Living’s Ask the Experts

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A Farmer's Wisdom

There is a wonderful story where a farmer has an incredible non-reactive
perspective on life.

On the first day of the harvest, the farmer's great barn door broke off its
hinges due to a massive rain and windstorm.

The next day all of the neighbors gathered around to share their thoughts of
sorrow, regret and shame.

The farmer just looked at the broken door with a relaxed and almost ho-hum
appearance he shared his summary of the situation by stating--- Hmm, I guess
we'll see.

Now of course the farmer's neighbors were almost outraged by his relaxed and
nonchalant attitude and they quickly scurried away with mumblings of gossip
under their breath.

The next day the farmer's best horse got free and ran through the broken
door of the barn and all the farmer could see was the horse galloping off
into the sunset with a most joyous and carefree pace.

Of course, as you can probably guess, the next day all of the neighbors
gathered around to share their thoughts of sorrow, regret and shame.

The farmer just looked at the empty stall where his best mare once stood
with a relaxed and almost ho-hum appearance and shared his summary of the
situation once again by stating--- Hmm, I guess we'll see.

Now the next day the farmer was awoken by the loudest stampede he had ever
heard and his favorite horse brought back ten of the wildest, and most
dazzling wild mustangs that he had ever seen. His favorite horse went out
for a night on the town and brought back friends!

The next day all of the neighbors gathered around to share their thoughts of
excitement, disbelief and wonder.

The farmer just looked at his open field with 11 of the most extraordinary
horses he had ever laid eyes upon and with a relaxed and almost ho-hum
appearance he shared his summary of the situation once again by stating---
Hmm, I guess we'll see.

The next day the farmer's son was willingly working away at the broken barn
door, as he wanted to ensure that the new wild horses would at least stay
within their plot of land and not run off again.

As the son began to work on the barn door, one of the large wild mustangs
bucked his way past the son and the wild horse knocked off the newly
repaired hinges of the previously broken barn door and the door came
crashing down upon the farmer's sons leg.

The leg was surely broken.

The next day all of the neighbors gathered around to share their thoughts of
sorrow, regret and shame and they generously brought over cards of sympathy
and fresh baked bread.

The farmer just looked at his son's crushed leg with a compassionate grin
and rubbed his son's neck and with a relaxed and almost ho-hum appearance
he shared his summary of the situation once again by stating--- Hmm, I guess
we'll see.

The next day the army came knocking on all the town's doors for a mandatory
draft for the war and all the young men were called to obligatory duty.

All of course except the farmer's son who was protected from the harm of
the draft and the farmer looked at his son, his wife and the sky above and
said out loud----Hmmm, now, I see.

The moral of this story is that sometimes we need to step back to get a
greater view.

At Living Inline we try to view health in this same manner as we acknowledge
that sometimes, discomfort is not always bad and in fact at times we find
that discomfort sometimes brings about great change.

Perhaps one's relationship is challenging or out of balance, and the stress
is overwhelming the body.

It is not always wise to simply want to handle the stress a little better
for he or she may stay in the same compromised situation. Perhaps life
generates that discomfort to awaken one to make change.

Maybe one's employer is out of integrity and that lack of alignment is
causing one sleeplessness.

How might we listen to this symptom so that it can be seen as a warning sign
or cue?

Throughout all of our service there runs a theme that asks the question-How
might we serve this person's highest good? Now of course this is not for us
to determine, but rather the client has the responsibility to orchestrate
his or her own life. As coaches and Doctors we simply aim to collaborate
with our practice member for their best possible life.

If we can maintain the attitude and intention of objectivity, sometimes by
saying Hmm, we'll see, allows us to see the blessings of gold at the end of
the rainbow and not be overshadowed by the clouds that happen to appear.

We send you our best thoughts of appreciation.

Jason, Elissa and
Chanda Schrader the
Awesome Office Coordinator

Living Inline-
Experts in Balancing Body, Food and Mind

4221 East Chandler Blvd. Suite 114, in Ahwatukee
Phone# 480-704-2787 www.livinginline.com

Just 1 mile west of the I-10 freeway on the south side of the street
1 block west of the Ironwood Library
1 block east of the new Trader Joe's

Voted Best of Ahwatukee 5 years in a row- Yeah!

Posted on August 17, 2005