One day while working out in the fields the farmer’s son fell and broke his leg.

The villagers came to the farm and said, ‘My, that’s a great misfortune. Your son has broken his leg: now he can’t help you in the fields.’

The farmer said, ‘It is neither a fortune nor a misfortune.’

A day later, the government troops came to the village looking for young men to conscript into the army. They had to leave the boy behind because his leg was broken. Again, the villagers came to the farm and said, ‘My, that’s a great fortune.’

The farmer replied, ‘It is neither a fortune nor a misfortune.’

Then one day the farmer’s only horse jumped the fence and ran away. The villagers came to the farm and said, ‘What a great misfortune that your horse has run away.

The farmer said, ‘It is neither a fortune nor a misfortune.’

Two or three days later, the horse came back with a dozen wild horses following behind him.

The villagers came to him and said, ‘It’s a great fortune that your horse came back with twelve others.’

The farmer replied, ‘It is neither a fortune nor a misfortune.’

Lao Tzu

The farmer in this story understood that nothing is of greater importance than anything else until we give it importance.