I love this story.

My mind is extremely adept at judging everything, assessing it’s merit or not and thinking it knows what’s going on all the time.

When I apply the Chinese Farmer attitude to my life there is an easing up, a relaxing that takes place.

I let go of trying to predict all the outcomes.

When we apply the Chinese Farmer attitude it opens up the possibility for something else.

In that space the unknown and often unconsidered could happen.

Hey, maybe even something positive!

When we stick with what our minds create we limit ourselves. Like the neighbours we can get stuck in a fear based way of being in the world. We assume the worst and project that energy out into the world.

To change this is a practice. Just as with meditation we must gently guide our minds back, away from their habitual way of thinking.

Instead we use our minds on purpose to a conscious choice to create something different for ourselves.

So, my suggestions to myself and to you is this; when we find ourselves confronted by a situation let’s imagine there are many outcomes none of which we can actually know with any certainty. Instead of leaping of down one of these routes let’s just say to ourselves, maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing, or even,

Maybe I have no idea! Maybe, maybe, maybe is our mantra. ?

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” Thich Nhat Hanh

How could you adopt a Chinese Farmer attitude to your life today?