There is an old story that goes something like this.
Once upon a time there was a widowed farmer who relied on his one son and one horse to make a living off the land.
Then one day the horse ran off. The farmer was very distraught. He told a wise old man in the village that a terrible thing had happened to him and his horse had run off.
Much to his annoyance, the old man said to him “Good thing, bad thing, who knows?”
Soon after his only son fell while working in the fields and broke his leg. Although he was expected to heal, he would be unable to do any work for six weeks which left the farmer feeling cursed. He had no horse and no son to help him.
He told his tale of woe to the old man who again said “Good thing, bad thing, who knows?”
A week later the army came through town. They took all horses and all available able bodied young men for the war. Since the farmer’s son was unable to walk he was not conscripted. Since the farmer’s horse was gone it was not taken. The army left.
The next week the farmer’s horse came home of its own accord.
The next month the farmer’s son had fully healed.
So the farmer said to the old man, “What a good thing that I did not lose my son or my horse to the war!”
To which the old man replied “Good thing, bad thing, who knows?”
In the past I often missed the good things that were buried in my challenges. I would have seen only the fact that I can never stop into a fast food place…ever. I would only have seen that every trip to a new restaurant is a project every holiday is at my house, and every birthday party takes advance planning.
It is a hassle. A friend of mine has been hoping for a cure for celiac disease strictly so that my son can more easily eat processed food.
This makes me smile. The only reason I am not hoping for a cure is because I kind of like the fact that the impulsive eating of processed junk is not an option. All this meal planning has had a lot of unexpected upside.
Because there are some advantages to having celiac disease
We eat very little processed food since we need to plan our binges.
We eat all nine of the recommended servings of fruits and veggies each day. If you think fruit and veggies are expensive… try buying GF processed food.
We prioritize self-care.
We are almost never ill. When we actually do catch something we heal fast.
We are learning to stand up for ourselves and love ourselves every day many times a day by saying no to food that depletes us.
Because we say no so often we have learned to greet the upset and anger of others with more acceptance and compassion instead of always lapsing into defensiveness or unhealthy compliance.
And I am sure that there are even more benefits.
Would I have found these things without an illness? I don’t know. I do know that I had not found them in 44 years on the planet so it was not looking good.
So I have a lot to be thankful for today including a potentially fatal illness that woke me up to the importance of taking care of myself.
Good thing, bad thing, who knows?
Happy Thanksgiving!
