Good luck and bad luck.

There was once a wise farmer who knew that life's experiences are often not what they appear. He owned a beautiful mare that was the finest in the entire village. One day, someone left the corral gate open and the mare ran off. The villagers said to the farmer, "What terrible luck." The wise farmer replied, "Good luck, bad luck, who can tell." Several days later, the mare returned with a beautiful herd of wild stallions accompanying her. The villagers marveled at what good luck the farmer had. Again, the wise old man observed, "Good luck, bad luck, who can tell."

One day, the farmer's only son was out in the yard breaking in the wild stallions. When he was thrown from his horse and broke his shoulder, the villagers remarked, "What terrible luck." Once again, as he was wont to do, the farmer said, "Good luck, bad luck, who can tell." A week later, the government declared war, calling into service all able-bodied men from the village. All went to war with the exception of the farmer's son, who was still healing from his injury. When all the young soldiers from the village were caught in an ambush and killed, the villagers again remarked to the farmer, "What good luck that your son broke his shoulder and was spared." And on goes the story.

Good and bad, right and wrong are merely interpretations that we attach to experiences. As with all opposites, we cannot have one without the other. All of life's experiences present themselves as tools for our own creation. It is entirely up to us to decide how we will experience any aspect of life as it presents us with an opportunity to decide who we choose to be. Instead of being a victim of what life presents us, we can choose to be the source, the creator of how we will respond and how we will be affected by the challenge. Our response is our opportunity to define who we choose to be.