DAY 22

I had been dreading this day—the day when seasonal symptoms would catch up with me. Today, it happened. I felt under the weather, kept a low profile, and worried about all the things I might miss if I don't recover soon.
It's funny how our bodies communicate with us. Maybe mine is telling me to slow down. Sometimes, slow days just happen, and there's nothing I can do about it. I'm hopeful that I'll get better quickly and be able to enjoy the break.
Life has a way of throwing unexpected challenges our way, often when we have plans. It feels like things shouldn't go wrong at these moments, but they do. I'm trying to embrace this and find the good in it, even when it doesn't seem obvious.

​This situation reminded me of the parable of the Chinese farmer:

Once upon a time, there was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all his neighbours came around to commiserate. They said, "We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate." The farmer replied, "I'm not sure it's such bad news."
The next day, the horse came back, bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening, everybody came back and said, "Oh, isn't that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!" The farmer replied, "I'm not sure it's such good news."
The following day, his son tried to break one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbours then said, "Oh dear, that's too bad," and the farmer responded, "I'm not sure it's such bad news."
The next day, the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again, all the neighbours came around and said, "Isn't that great!" Again, he said, "I'm not sure it's such good news.

Life's twists and turns are unpredictable, and what seems unfortunate now may lead to something positive later. I'm keeping this in mind  today.