There once lived a Chinese farmer with immaculate teeth. He raised a stallion that provided tremendous help and labor around the farm.
One early morning, entering the stable, he finds the gate to his stallions stable swung wide open. Losing his prized stallion.
The village quickly learns of our farmers’ loss and tells him ‘We are so sorry for your lost horse, this is most unfortunate.’ His reply is a curt ‘Maybe’.
Next day, his beloved stallion returns with 7 wild horses. The village is elated and rejoices for the farmer. Telling the farmer ‘You have tremendous luck! You now have eight horses.’ Again, our farmer’s reply is a curt ‘Maybe’.
With all the extra horses, the following day, the farmer’s son tries to tame the wild horses. Like putting your fingers in the danger zone between someone’s teeth while saying ‘BITE’ the farmer’s son finds himself accidentally standing behind a suddenly bucking horse. Shattering his leg.
Neighbors can only shake their heads and tell the farmer ‘that’s too bad for you and your son.’ The farmer’s only response, ‘Maybe’.
On the next day, uniformed officers arrive in the village. A mandatory enlistment of young men has been demanded by the government due to civil war. But the son of the farmer is spared due to his recent injuries. The neighbors return to congratulate ‘wow what great luck your son has!’ Again the farmer’s favorite word is uttered from his stoic face, ‘Maybe’.
Life is complex. No single event should be judged as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Consequences of misfortune or good fortune are never known.
You might question why this horribly difficult patient enters your life. All they do is ask endless questions and never do treatment. They just go in circles. But you don’t know in a year’s time, they come back for a full mouth restore because they get a hockey puck to the mouth. They only trust you doc, since you had been patient and taken the time to explain the procedure to them.
You might be jumping for joy when they give you all this stimulus money to keep your practice above water while everything is shut down. But you don’t know that in a year’s time, hiring new staff is going to cost you 30-40% extra on hourly wages because of a diminishing workforce.
Maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Let’s welcome 2022 with an open mind to thrive.
Lam