The Maybe Story

The Maybe Story

I’ve been thinking about that old Chinese parable — the farmer whose horse runs away, then returns with wild horses, then injures his son, then saves him from conscription.

At every turn, the neighbors rush in with their verdicts:
“Good fortune!”
“Bad fortune!”

And the farmer just says:
“Maybe.”

I’ve realized how often I do the opposite.
If I don’t get what I want, I label it misfortune.
If I do get what I want, I label it good fortune.

Instant verdicts.
No space.
No curiosity.
Just a reflexive stamp on whatever just happened.

But the “maybe” story has been sticking with me.
Not as a moral. Not as a philosophy.
More like a small, useful interruption.

A reminder that I don’t actually know what anything means yet.

That the story is still unfolding.
That the first interpretation is almost always the loudest, not the truest.
That outcomes aren’t verdicts — they’re data.

So I’m experimenting with a new stance.
When something happens — good or bad — I’m trying to pause and say:

“Maybe.”
“Let’s see what this becomes.”

It’s not detachment.
It’s not optimism.
It’s just a little humility about the timeline.

A small gap between the event and the meaning.
A little room to breathe.

I think I’ll keep playing with this idea.


Aaron Rose is a software engineer and technology writer at tech-reader.blog and aaronrose.blog.

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