Human life is very complicated: apparently fortunate things might turn out to be misfortunes, and vice versa, seemingly unfortunate things might turn out to be fortunate things. A Chinese story—“Mr. Sai’s Horse”—exemplifies this truth very vividly: A person named Sai had a horse. One day, the horse ran away. People consoled Mr. Sai for his loss of the horse. But Mr. Sai wasn’t the least bit depressed, saying “Someday, this might turn out to be a good thing.” Weeks later, the horse came back with a female horse. The two horses had mated. People congratulated Mr. Sai, because he had gained another horse. However, Mr. Sai wasn’t the least bit pleased, saying “This might turn out to be a bad thing.” His words were realized. A few months later, while his son was riding the female horse, he fell on the ground, broke his legs, and became crippled. Mr. Sai’s neighbors consoled him. But Mr. Sai wasn’t depressed at all, saying, “This might bring about good luck in the future.” A few years later, a war broke out. All the young men were brought to the front line and fought. Most of them were killed in the battle. However, Mr. Sai’s son wasn’t drafted and survived, because he was lame.
Thus, Mr. Sai’s story teaches us not to get carried away by a temporary pleasure and not to be depressed by a temporary sorrow.
I recently experienced a similar story amid the prevalence of COVID-19.
An old woman visited my clinic. She had a pressure ulcer on her right heel. She is in her late eighties and living in a care house (A care house is a group home for elderly persons). One day, she fell down on the ground and broke her thigh. She was transferred to a nearby hospital, where she received surgery. Although the treatment itself was successful, she developed a pressure sore (a skin ulcer caused by the pressure) on her right heel. The surgeon who worked on her sent her to me, asking me to care for her pressure sore.
Treatment of the ulcer took a long time. She was sent back to the care house from the hospital.
During the treatment, I had the workers of the care house take her to my clinic every two weeks. The workers of the care house and her daughter took her to my clinic every week.
Her ulcer eventually healed after a long treatment and much struggling.
Her daughter said to me: “I was very angry when my mother developed the pressure sore at the hospital, because I believed that the pressure sore was a product of the negligence of the hospital’s nurses. But as time passed by, I changed my mind. Occurrence of the pressure sore might have been a good thing for my mother. Due to the prevalence of COVID-19, the group home doesn’t allow the residents’ family members to visit them. As a result, their mental conditions are getting worse and worse. Some of them have even developed dementia. On the other hand, I could meet my mother every week, because I needed to take her to your clinic. Compared with the pre-COVID-19 days, she is much more mentally active.”
I felt very glad to hear this story. The prevalence of COVID-19 is evidently one of the worst things that can happen to humans. However, even such a thing can have a positive aspect!
How tough human beings are!
