Take the Command of Your Life in Your Own Hand

Once upon the time there was an old farmer in a village living with his small family. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“Maybe yes; Maybe No,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.

“Maybe yes; Maybe No,” replied the old man.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the wild horses and he was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.

“Maybe yes; Maybe No,” answered the farmer without showing any emotion.

A few days later, military officials came to the village to induct young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“Maybe yes; Maybe No,” again said the farmer.

 

This famous Zen story reveals the unpredictability of life in the world. Every day we hear horror stories of crime, murders, and accidents and often conclude that there is no guarantee of life and that most of things are not in our control.

Since the life is uncertain, many people like to enjoy the present and often give in to instant gratifications following the philosophy of ‘Eat, Drink and Merry’. They follow the lifestyle that provides them instant pleasure even if it is harmful to their body and mind. They believe that it is foolish to bother about future which is so uncertain.

Contrary to the popular believe, our life is far more certain now than ever before. Even though the media is filled with negative stories like crime and death, the real world is far safer and civilized.

One of the best methods to prove that the chance of causality is extremely low now is to find out the insurance premium. For example, the term premium for Rs One Crore (10 Million ) is around  Rs 6000 per annum only.  This means that the possibility of being killed in next one year for any person is less than 1 in 1667 or 0.006%.  In reality, the actual figure must be much lower as the insurance companies must be making some profit also. Thus, in reality, even in the span of 10 years, the causality rate can’t be more than 1 in 250. The rest 249 survives to suffer the consequences of the actions of immoral and illegal life taken today.

It may be better to live a healthy life and follow moral and legal principles as if you are going to live forever. The role of chance is quite negligible in the real-life once you analyze it statistically and study it rationally. Einstein has rightly said. “God does not play dice with the world.”

Let us shape our future by taking the command of life in our own hand rather than remaining always confused with “May be yes, May be no.”