Good or Bad... Hard to Say

This TED Talk video " Good and Bad are Incomplete Stories We Tell Ourselves " is presented by Heather Lanier, a mother to a child with a rare medical condition.

Click the link below to watch the video: https://www.ted.com/talks/heather_lanier_good_and_bad_are_incomplete_stories_we_tell_ourselves

The author started with a powerful story of how a farmer taught her about the quality of "good" and "bad".

One day, a farmer lost a horse. The neighbor came over and said “that’s bad"

“Good or bad… hard to say”, the farmer said.

A few days later, the horse came back with seven wild horses. The neighbor came over and said “that’s good”.

“Good or bad… hard to say”, the farmer said.

A few days later, the son of the farmer rode one of the wild horses and he was thrown off and broke his leg, The neighbor came over and said “that’s bad”.

“Good or bad… hard to say”, the farmer said.

A few days later, the officers came to the village to look for men to draft for army and they see the farmer’s son has a broken leg and pass him by. The neighbor came over and said “that’s good”

“Good or bad… hard to say”, the farmer said.

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The concept of “good” and “bad” are merely the frames of an incomplete story that we tell based on a perspective and value we are comfortable to be in.

We are bombarded with so many things in life that required our energy. It is true that by simply judging things and categorise them into “good” or “bad”, we are not doing ourselves justice in allowing ourselves to experience a new perspective.

Understanding, perhaps, the robber who stripped us of our monetary possession has an ailing mother who is in desperation need of money for medical treatment will turn hatred into compassion. It redefine what “good” and “bad” is.

It requires courage, sympathy and empathy to acknowledge the other side of the story of how we are willing to accept it.

When we label someone for who we think they are, we are stripping them their right of dignity.

What is a birth defect? What gives us the right to label someone are mentally disabled just because they do not have the same capacity of logical thinking like us?

The speaker shared her story on how life was unfair and believe her life is in a state of tragic when her daughter was diagnosed with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.

She was upset her beloved child who was capable of sharing her love and blessing to the people around was seen as “abnormal” by societies, even the therapists who helped the baby to learn to walk.

Despite there is a challenge in raising her child, the speaker has grown stronger as a person, the daughter gave her more happiness than sadness because this little girl is sweet and angelic.

Soon she realises nothing is a clear curse and nothing is a definite blessing. It is all our decision on how we want to see our lives.

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Do you have a story which giving labels of "good" and "bad" does not do justice to the overall scenario? Share it in the comment section and upvotes the stories you enjoy reading. I would appreciate you for an upvote if you like me to share posts like this in future.

Posts like this are personal thought after I have watched TED talks online. I will share 2-5 points on the what lessons we can learn and what conventional beliefs we can challenge. All videos and images, unless stated, credit to TED.com and the presenter(s).