There's an old story often told by Alan Watts...
It's simple…almost too simple...and that is why it cuts so deep when you sit with it.
A farmer lives with his son and a single horse.
One day the horse runs away...the neighbors gather and say…“Such bad luck.”
The farmer replies…"Maybe so…maybe not.”
A few days later the horse returns…bringing with it several wild horses.
The neighbors rush back…“How wonderful…such good fortune.”
The farmer says…“Maybe so…maybe not.”
Later the son tries to tame one of the wild horses…falls off and breaks his leg.
Again the neighbors come…“How terrible.”
The farmer replies…“Maybe so…maybe not.”
Then war breaks out...and all the young men are drafted…except the farmer’s son…because of his injury.
The neighbors say…“How lucky.”
The farmer answers the same way…“Maybe so… maybe not.”
I have thought about that story a lot over the years...especially lately.
Because when you live long enough, you realize how often you were wrong about what was good and what was bad...
I've lost jobs that felt devastating at the time…only to realize later they saved me from becoming someone I did not want to be.
I've taken hits that bruised my ego…my bank account…my confidence…my ego...
Only to see years later they forged a kind of strength I could not have built any other way.
I've chased opportunities that looked perfect on paper...and turned down others that scared me to say no to.
At the time…those choices felt risky…even foolish...
But standing where I am now, I can see how often life was redirecting me…not punishing me.
The problem is when you are in the middle of it, you don't have the benefit of hindsight.
You only have pressure…fear…hope…and your own interpretation of events.
That is where most people get lost.
We label things too quickly.
We decide something is a failure before it has finished teaching us.
We crown something a win before we understand the cost.
And in doing so…we rob ourselves of patience…perspective…and peace.
The farmer was not passive...he worked...he showed up...he did what was in front of him.
But he refused to panic over outcomes he did not yet understand.
That takes maturity...that takes faith...that takes a grounded nervous system.
I've learned that the more reactive I am, the more chaos I create in my own head.
And the more grounded I stay…the more clearly I can see what is actually happening.
Some of the hardest seasons of my life…financial pressure…career uncertainty…decisions that kept me awake at night…
Those seasons did not break me...
They slowed me down.
They stripped away illusions.
They clarified what actually matters.
At the time…it felt like loss...
Looking back…it was alignment.
"Maybe so…maybe not."
That phrase has become a quiet anchor for me.
When something goes sideways…maybe so…maybe not.
When something goes right…maybe so… maybe not.
Not as indifference...not as avoidance...but as humility.
Humility to admit I don't see the full picture yet.
Humility to trust that meaning often reveals itself later.
There is peace in that posture.
It doesn't mean you stop caring...it means you stop catastrophizing.
It means you stop assigning permanent meaning to temporary moments.
You still act...you still lead...you still make the best decision you can with what you know...you just stop pretending you're omniscient.
Life is not happening to you...it is shaping you.
And more often than not…the thing you are resisting today is the thing you will be grateful for tomorrow.
Maybe so…maybe not.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
Luke Combs… “Doin’ This”… a reminder that the journey matters as much as the destination.
WHAT I’M READING
"Grow" by Mike Fata...lessons about a guy with a story worth looking up...
WHAT I’M WATCHING
"Shark Whisperer" on Netflix...incredible story about a person so filled with passion you can't not be impressed
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Life is not happening to you… it is responding to you.”
COFFEE WITH CHRIS REFLECTION
What situation in your life have you labeled too quickly (good or bad)?
What if you loosened your grip…stayed present…and let the story unfold a little longer...
