We’ll see

Early in my career, I worked at a healthcare consulting firm. I was 22, and they gave me a credit card and an apartment in whichever city I was assigned a project.

I couldn’t believe anyone would give me a corporate credit card.

Much less a corporate apartment.

When I started, my cohort of twelve new consultants had two weeks of training at headquarters. Following training each day, we hung out in the hotel lobby and discussed rumored upcoming consulting projects.

Who would go to New York City? And who would go to Jackson, Mississippi?

I’ve never been to Jackson. I’m sure it’s nice. But most of us wanted that corporate apartment in New York City. When we got our assignments, the four new consultants assigned to the New York project were excited. They got exactly what they wanted.

But it didn’t go as planned.

The New York project sucked.

The project wasn’t in New York City. The apartments were in Manhattan, but the work was two hours outside the city at a hospital system on Long Island. The client was miserable. The hours were brutal. The commute was horrible.

Three of the four new consultants assigned to the “New York” project quit within twelve months.

The Story of the Chinese Farmer - a Zen fable

A farmer and his son had a beloved horse who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!”

The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild horses back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!”

The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the horses and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The neighbors cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!”

The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, because he had a broken leg. The neighbors shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!”

To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”