Good, Bad, Time Will Tell

There’s an old Chinese story about a farmer who had a single horse.
The only one in the village.
He used it to plow the fields and carry loads.

One day, the horse ran away.
The villagers came and said, “Such bad luck.”
The farmer replied, “Good, bad, time will tell.”

A few days later, the horse returned, bringing two wild horses with it.
The villagers cheered, “What good fortune!”
The farmer said again, “Good, bad, time will tell.”

While trying to tame one of the wild horses, the farmer’s son was kicked and knocked unconscious.
“Such a tragedy,” the villagers said.
The farmer repeated, “Good, bad, time will tell.”

The next week, the army arrived to conscript every young man in the village. Every boy went to the front.
Except for the farmer’s injured son.

Good. Bad. Time told.

That’s how life works.
What looks like failure might be redirection.
What looks like luck might carry a cost.

The trouble is, we judge too soon.
We rush to label every turn in our story as either victory or disaster.
But time always has a longer view.

When things fall apart, give it time.
When things go your way, give gratitude.
Both will change shape as the story unfolds.

So next time life flips on you, when something breaks, when someone leaves, when plans collapse, resist the urge to name it.

Just whisper: Good, bad, time will tell.

Because as you keep walking, something deeper unfolds beneath the waiting: the quiet realization that life was never meant to be easy.
It was meant to be earned.