December 14, 2025
No mud, no lotus.
Buddhist saying
Over a decade ago I came across the Taoist parable of Who knows what’s good or bad. I’ve never forgotten it. The core idea: we’re far too quick to judge. What seems “bad” may lead to “good”, and vice versa. Moreover, I have found that you can draw a straight line from so-called “bad” events to so-called “good” ones (again, vice versa). Things aren’t always as clear as they seem, and life is long.
When I was rejected by both Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business for an MBA over a decade ago, I was devastated. Crushed. An MBA was firmly on my life path. But the next year, I applied again and got in to both schools. Those admissions led to a life-changing role at LinkedIn, and a path I’m still on over a decade later. What felt like a painful setback turned out to be the seed of a transformative journey.
Since then, I’ve noticed the pattern everywhere. One door closes, another opens. Blessings arrive through hard detours. Now I don’t use the “good” or “bad” labels. They just are. The only thing we control in life is the meaning we assign to what happens. Can we see without judgment? Can we trust that there’s more to what meets the eye? Can we believe there might just be a gift on the other side, awaiting us, if only we could have the patience to persevere?