For the past decade or so, the idea of "Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who knows" rings through my head as life, culture, and community evolve and things "happen" that I may like or not like on initial glance. Joyful/positive things are easy to ingest, though I don't get as stoked as I did as a young man. Life is a wave. It goes up, it goes down. Some days are clean and clear, some days are rocky. The idea of Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows keeps me more even keeled. Maybe it can be helpful for you?
What happens and our initial story in our head, does not need to stay the same as time goes on and we reflect and or evaluate what happened.
The Fable/Story
There was a farmer who owned a horse and had a son.
His horse ran away one day. The neighbours came and said: "Oh, that's too bad. How are you going to work the fields now?" The farmer replied: "Good thing, Bad thing, Who knows?"
In a few days, his horse came back and brought another 2 horses with her. Now, the neighbours were glad: "Oh, how lucky! Now you can do more work than before!" The farmer replied: "Good thing, Bad thing, Who knows?"
The next day, the farmer's son fell off the new horse and broke his leg. The neighbours complained again: "Now that he is lame, he can't help you around, that's too bad." The farmer replied: "Good thing, Bad thing, Who knows?"
Soon, the news came that a war broke out, and all the young men were required to join the army. The villagers were sad because they knew that many of the young men will not come back. The farmer's son could not be drafted because of his broken leg. His neighbours were envious: "How lucky! You get to keep your only son." The farmer replied: "Good thing, Bad thing, Who knows?"
The ideas, made so clear in this fable above, have helped me many times, and been a fun talking point with those I work with and love. Onwards!